Feelings and Ferrets
by Myaa
Summary: Hermione is paired up with the worst possible person in potions, but things begin to change between the two. Dramione. Hermione POV.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Note: I don't own anything. It's never too late to review so if you like any of the chapters, please write! :)

It was a chilly November morning as I headed down to potions with Harry and Ron. Once we got there, Professor Slughorn told us to stand in a line. Professor Slughorn stood in front of the class, he looked like he enjoyed the three month group potions project he did with his advanced class, and he wanted to do them every year, according to what I'd heard from an older student. "I'll be pairing you up based on skill so that neither of you will feel left behind. Just pick one of the work stations with your partner once I've called you, okay?"

I, along with the rest of the students lined up against the wall of the dungeon, nodded dully. I could tell Professor Slughorn wished we'd be more excited. Oh well. We did have to repeat their last year since the curriculum was far from perfect as well as the fact that some students, namely Harry, Ron, and I, had failed to show up.

"Potter and Weasley," he began. Harry and Ron grinned at each other and sat down at the table. "Longbottom and Abbott," Neville smiled shyly at Hannah and they sat down at a table. I hoped I wouldn't be paired with a Slytherin. I didn't know who else was around my skill level, but I didn't want to be insulted heavily for the three months we had to work together.

"Brown and Zabini," Lavender groaned, everyone knew that she hoped Parvati would take Advanced Potions, but Parvati was against it. Eventually there were only four people left standing, Ernie MacMillan, a Ravenclaw I thought was named Terrance Walters, and Draco Malfoy. Hoping against hope that I wasn't going to be paired up with Malfoy, I listened as Slughorn announced, "MacMillan and Walters."

I glanced at Malfoy, he was looking as angry as I felt. Why him of all people? When Slughorn announced "Granger and Malfoy" as a group, I walked over to the last empty work station without as much as a word to Malfoy. I saw Harry and Ron, as well as some of the other students, give me sympathetic glances. But it was only one class, how bad could it be? I heard Malfoy talking to Professor Slughorn. He was complaining rather loudly. "Why do I have to be paired up with that Mu—Granger?"

I felt her face redden, I should be the one complaining to have been paired up with that annoying git. "Because she was the best in the class, and you were second," Slughorn explained, "If you set aside your differences, you can do very well in this project with Granger." Malfoy went over to our station in obvious distaste and made a show of sitting as far from me as possible.

I decided it was best to ignore him. How many times had I told Harry and Ron to just ignore him while he insulted them? I was going to listen to my own advice. Turns out, it's harder than I thought.

Slughorn had us brew a simple potion so we'd know how it was to work with a partner. As I powdered the snake fangs, I saw Malfoy put something in our cauldron.

"What did you put in our cauldron?" I asked angrily, he was not going to make me get anything less than full marks.

"The snake fangs," he drawled.

"I was already doing that!" I said, frustrated. Malfoy proceeded to ignore me. "Malfoy!"

"Granger."

I groaned, this was not going to be going well, I could tell. "Okay, I'll get the Joplyn roots chopped and you shred the boomslang skin."

"I don't want to do the boomslang skin, and aren't you in a bossy mood today?"

"Shut up, Malfoy," I hissed, I was at the end of my rope. I was done being civil to that prat.

"Granger's got a temper, huh?" Malfoy smirked.

"I'll hex you!" I threatened.

"Sure you will. You don't want to get in trouble, do you? Land in a detention."

I fumed. Even if that annoying Slytherin wasn't going to do any work, I was not about to fail. I added a few vials of this and that to the cauldron. Suddenly, red sparks appeared from Slughorn's wand. "Time!"

I jumped. Time? Our potion wasn't even halfway done yet. Slughorn glanced around at the potions, nodding his head. Saving ours for last, he came over to our cauldron with, I could tell, high expectations. I nearly burst into tears when he announced that he was very disappointed in us and he expected more than this.

"Are you crying?" Malfoy asked, incredulously.

"No," I said, willing myself to stay calm.

"You failed, Granger."

"We failed, Malfoy! And if it hadn't been for your messing around, we would have passed."

"Me? I was doing everything perfectly and then you came up and said 'You're doing it all wrong, Malfoy. I'm perfect, you should have known I was preparing the snake fangs.'"

I turned on my heel and walked over to Harry and Ron, pretending that what he said didn't affect me.

"That idiot," Ginny said sympathetically at lunch, "You're much better than he is at everything!"

I felt better after that as Ginny, along with Harry and Ron insulted the blonde Slytherin with everything they could think of. After lunch, I made my way to the library. Picking up all the books I needed for the essay Professor Slughorn had assigned, I levitated the fourteen books to the dormitory before heading off to Transfiguration.

The rest of the day was fine and I enjoyed a game of Exploding Snap with Harry, Ron, and Ginny.

It wasn't until a bit into the game that I nearly choked on the butterbeer I was drinking. Lavender Brown came up to Ron and kissed him on the cheek before sitting down beside him.

"Oh yeah," Ron said sheepishly while we gaped at him, "Lavender's my girlfriend."

I had always thought we had a special relationship. You know, Harry and Ginny, and Hermione and Ron. Well, I guess I was wrong. Ron had admitted on liking me last year, but that hadn't gone very far and frankly, I didn't like Ron in _that_ way. So maybe I should be happy for him.

"That's great, Ron," I said enthusiastically, reminding myself that I didn't like Ron like that.

"I thought you—" Ginny started at me, but then stopped, "Never mind."

That night, I couldn't help but feel left out as Harry and Ginny had said they had to go somewhere and Ron and Lavender were busy in the common room doing who knows what. Picking up a thick book for some light reading before bed, it wasn't that much later that I saw Lavender come in the dormitory, blushing slightly. Parvati, who I thought was asleep jumped up at once and the two girls giggled and whispered. Honestly, was that all they ever did.

With an annoyed huff I closed the drapes around my bed and cast _Silencio_ to block out the distractions. Reading over my Ancient Runes work, I soon fell asleep.

The next day was uneventful, that is until potions, of which we had a twice as long period, due to the fact that we didn't have potions on Wednesdays. I entered the dungeons with Harry and Ron, ignoring their bickering on Quidditch strategies. Was that all they could think about? If I hadn't already told them so countless times, I would have made the point that if they put half that effort in studying, they could do really well.

"At your stations everyone!" Professor Slughorn smiled, "We get to start our first advanced potion today! Mind you, it'll take a long time to complete, a month, perhaps. Now! Let's get started, shall we?"

"Harry, my boy," Slughorn gestured to Harry who looked slightly alarmed as he had no doubt not been listening. Slughorn handed him a miniature cauldron and Harry reached in to grab a vial. Inside was a slip of paper. "Go on," open it!" Slughorn beamed, "That's the potion you're to make. When you're done, just fill up the vial so I can grade you."

Harry did so and read it aloud, "Polyjuice." I shared a look with Harry and Ron. We'd already brewed this potion, and in our second year at that.

When he came to our station, there was only one left that I picked up. "Felix Felicis." Soon after, we decided to start.

"Don't make us mess up this time," Malfoy spoke.

"I didn't!" I said indignantly, Malfoy was ruining my mood already.

Slughorn came up to us, "I was hoping you'd get the Felix! Anyway, since it does usually take six months to brew, I've already done the necessary steps since the last five months. All you have to do is finish it up."

"This'll be easy," Malfoy smirked, "Don't drag me down, though, Granger."

Seriously, how was I supposed to survive three months of this? "So we should divide up the ingredients we need to prepare starting from the beginning of the sixth month," I said.

"Okay, Know-it-all," Malfoy said, "Go look it up in the book now."

I was going to look in the book, but I wasn't about to do it now that Malfoy told me to. "If you're so clever, what do we do now? Without looking."

That got a rise from him. "Well, I'm not the so-called 'Brightest Witch of the Age' am I?" He asked angrily. I huffed at him and checked what we needed to do next.

I went to the student supply closet to get the Wormwood that we needed to powder. I saw Malfoy doing, you got it, nothing while I measured how much of the fine powder we needed.

"Do something to help, it's a group project," I reminded him.

"No kidding, that's why I'm stuck with you." That stupid, annoying Slytherin. I glared at him and he glared back.

"Granger! Malfoy!" Professor Slughorn said, "Can I have your attention?"

I suddenly realized that the rest of the class was quietly listening to Professor Slughorn. I could feel myself blushing at the unwanted attention. "Sorry!" I hastily said.

"Five points each from Gryffindor and Slytherin." I felt extremely ashamed at my behavior; I was not going to let Malfoy ruin my reputation in Slughorn's class, not if I could help it. "What I was saying," Professor Slughorn continued, "Is that you will each turn in an essay at the end of the month on the preparation, effect, side-effects, and uses for your potion. I expect it to be no less than fifteen feet in length. Well, maybe things were going to get better. I was positively gleeful at the challenge, but the others didn't share my enthusiasm.

We continued working on our potion. I had to stir it clockwise seven times, because a particular blonde felt no need to help. Instead Malfoy was leaning back in his chair, hands supporting his head behind him, his feet resting up on the table on which we were supposed to be working, the picture of ease. I had half a mind to give him a little push so that the chair would topple, as it was balanced on two legs. "Why don't you help?" I asked angrily. Malfoy ignored me, typical. "Malfoy!"

"What?" he drawled, "If I do anything, it won't be perfect enough for you."

I was so angry that I must have stirred our cauldron an extra few times because instead of turning a light blue, it was midnight black. Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, the potion exploded.

"Detention!" Professor Slughorn told the two of us angrily. Half the potions classroom had exploded and the rest of the students were backed away as far as possible from our cauldron.

"Both of us?" Malfoy asked.

"Yes!" Professor Slughorn said, "It took me five months, five months, to brew that potion. Couldn't you have used it bit by bit? You won't even be able to do the assignment now. And don't forget that you've done to my classroom. I felt terrible, Slughorn wasn't a teacher to get angry easily. He was laid back and joyous most of the time, too. Not only had I lost Gryffindor five points, but I'd also landed myself in my first detention all year.

"But I wasn't a part of this," Malfoy complained.

"You were supposed to be, what were you doing? Couldn't you have helped your partner?" I couldn't help but smile at Malfoy's expression at being punished by the head of Slytherin House. I threw him a told-you-so look, but he ignored me. "You both will come every evening at seven for the rest of the week, see to it that you're not late."

I glumly nodded, just as the bell rang. I followed behind Harry, Ron, and Lavender out the door. Ron and Lavender left soon for Divination, as Harry and I had Defense Against the Dark Arts. I had talked him out of Divination partially because it was a load of rubbish and partially because I could convince him better than Ron since Harry really wanted to be an auror and who ever heard of an auror who did Divination?

I could barely concentrate on the lesson taught by Professor Black. It was only last year that we realized that if the person who caused another person to fall through the veil died, the person who fell through the veil would be restored. Though Sirius didn't remember what had happened for the last two years, once Mrs. Weasley had killed Bellatrix, he had been thrown back out the veil. Harry had been beside himself with joy since the Hogwarts battle had killed so many he cared for.

"Hermione? Hermione!"

I looked at Harry who had been whispering and poking at me. "What?"

"You should let Malfoy get to you like that."

"I didn't let him," I said defensively.

"Hermione, you never mess up a potion," Harry seriously told me.

"But he's so—"

"I know what you mean, but remember what you always told me and Ron?"

"Ignore it," I said halfheartedly, "It's hard."

Harry chuckled, "If I could do it, you can."

I nodded, feeling much better, "Yeah."

I opened the door to greenhouse three. Professors Sprout was there, waiting for us. It was only a couple seconds until Malfoy strolled in after me. "You will be repotting these Nyundul Partets for my second years. Do any of you know what these are or have you forgotten?"

"Nyundul Partets, or more commonly known as Nyunns are tropical plants known to cure most minor ailments. Nyunns, however, need to be kept in the temperature or their effectiveness for curing will lessen. Furthermore, their soil needs to be kept moist at all times and this plant shouldn't come in contact with direct sunlight until it is ready to be dried at which point the single flower of each plant turns pale purple rather than its usual pink," I explained.

Malfoy coughed and I could swear I heard the words "Show off."

"Very good, Ms. Granger. It's easy to repot them, you know. But there are a lot here, you may leave when you are done." Professor Sprout gestured to the many little Nyunn plants and the dozens of pots as well as the soil. "And don't use magic, they don't like it, you see." She left soon after that.

"Don't use magic? They don't like it? They're plants for goodness sake," Malfoy said. He levitated a pot onto the table and threw in some soil. Unceremoniously levitating a plant, he threw it in there as well. "One down."

"Malfoy!" I gasped, "You can't do that! The soil is dry and messed up and the Nyunn is sideways, for goodness sake! Didn't you hear what Professor Sprout said? No magic!"

"She was just saying that to make it take longer, who cares about these plants anyway?"

"We'll be stuck in detention for so much longer!"

"Oh okay I'll make it look neater, but I'm still using magic. Malfoy's don't do this type of work! It's for house elves."

"I can't believe you'd say that!" I spluttered, "House elves are treated like slaves! They don't know what it means to be free."

"They like it, Granger," Malfoy said, "Now are we going to finish this or not?"

It took us two hours of potting them. Malfoy would levitate the pots filled with soil and I would hand-plant the Nyunns. It was a pretty good system. When we were done, I closed the door and we headed back to the castle. To tell you the truth, we barely talked but it wasn't awkward, it was just quiet.

I almost turned to wave goodbye when Malfoy turned to go to the dungeons but I caught myself, I hated Malfoy.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Note: Still don't own anything.

Since I didn't have potions on Wednesdays, today was a better day than most and by dinner, I was quite happy. Professor Flitwick had a surprise charms test today which was quite exhilarating seeing as I had to go through an obstacle course-like thing which had many advanced charms I was to throw off. I had also earned my house ten points in Professor Wood's class. I was surprised myself when I learned that Oliver Wood, former Quidditch captain, had a knack for teaching Transfiguration at the beginning of this year.

Taking one last gulp of pumpkin juice, I went to Professor Slughorn's office, I had detention with him today. I saw Malfoy opening the door and heading inside and I hurried to go in before the door closed.

"Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger. You will be cleaning one of the dungeons today as the Gobstones Club had a little incident. To be frank, the place is covered in slime. I think the game was defective."

"Okay," I said. I was still feeling bad about the incident in class, not that it had been my fault, not entirely. I had help from a certain blonde. I went over to the door Professor Slughorn showed us to it was covered with green slime and it smelled disgusting.

"Wands please," Professor Slughorn said, "There are muggle cleaning supplies in the closet."

As soon as he left Malfoy muttered, "What is it with detentions and not using magic?" I couldn't help but agree with him. I walked over to the closet and pulled out a bottle of cleaning spray and a couple rags. "How the hell am I supposed to clean using these?" Malfoy asked.

"Quite simple really," pleased to know something Malfoy didn't, "You spray and wipe." I demonstrated.

"Muggles!" Malfoy said exasperated, "How do they live without magic?" I tossed a rag at him.

"Let's get started then," I said, there really was a lot of work to do. We worked for about an hour in silence, well I worked. Malfoy was half-heartedly pinching the rag with a disgusted look and barely wiping anything. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

"What?" Malfoy asked me.

I shook my head, "Nothing," I wasn't going to make Malfoy do even less work, if it was possible, "We'd be done if you were doing anything." I mentioned. It was true, the half of the dungeon I was working on was spotless whereas there was only a small spot that was clean on his side.

"We wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for you," he stood up from the crouched position he had on the floor.

"Me? You were the one doing nothing," I retorted, he was being impossible and I'd have to clean the whole dungeon.

"You didn't want my help remember?"

"Well you should help me clean the dungeon," I huffed.

I walked over to his side of the dungeon. Then it all happened suddenly. I slipped on the green slime. Malfoy reached over to stop me from falling head first but then he slipped on the putrid substance. Next thing I knew, I was on top of him, my face centimeters from his. We just stared at each other for a moment and then I felt myself blush.

"Sorry! Are you okay?" I said, slightly rushed. But Malfoy had passed out.

I sat in the hospital wing a while later feeling completely lost. Malfoy was here because of me. After he had passed out, I had rushed to get Professor Slughorn and Malfoy was levitated to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey had told me, though I had to keep pestering her until she gave up, that Malfoy had just hit his head and that he'd be fine. It was my fault though and I felt terrible. Malfoy had tried to stop me from falling.

I sat in the visitor's chair. I looked quite nice, actually, without his perpetual sneer. His straight blonde hair almost covered his eyes. I realized then that I had no idea what color his eyes were even though I had known him since first year. His face was more angular than when he had been younger and if I hadn't known him I may have thought he was handsome. I shook those thoughts from my head. It was only after another fifteen minutes that he started to come around.

"Malfoy? Are you okay? Oh I'm so sorry!" I hated that I was the reason he'd been lying here for two hours.

"How long have I been here?"

"About two hours," Madame Pomfrey said, "And Miss Granger, you can go now. I've let you stay for half an hour."

"Half an hour?" Malfoy muttered under breath.

Thursday morning bought with it another potions day. It was a dull, rainy day and I wasn't expecting much. First thing after breakfast, I walked down to the potions classroom with Harry and Ron. Professor Slughorn was in a joyous mood thanks to the fact that his classroom had been restored.

"Since we got our classroom back, let's continue our lessons! From now on, you'll just come here and start working, alright?" A few nods, "Okay then, you may begin!"

Professor Slughorn came to our table, "Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, why don't the two of you make the Himpheri potion instead?"

"Okay, Professor," I said. Though it was not as advanced as I would have liked, it was better than doing nothing.

Once he left, I turned to Malfoy, "Let's try and be civil through our project, okay?"

"Yeah," Malfoy replied, "Okay."

I flipped through my potions book. The first stem was to simmer minced gurdyroots on low. I turned to reach for the gurdyroots but I saw that Malfoy already had them and was halfway through mincing them.

"How did you know that was the first step?" I asked him.

"Maybe I wasn't trying before," he smirked.

Was he really not trying before? I noticed that he was taking pleasure in my confusion so I immediately stopped. Instead, I decided to do better than him. Okay, next step, 'Add in finely chopped myrtleweed.' I went to the supply closet rather quickly and brought out the amount specified. Before I started, I glanced over at Malfoy. The gurdyroots were, to my extreme frustration, perfectly minced. I started chopping the myrtleweed while Malfoy took some and started chopping as well. By the time I was done, so was he and it was obvious which one was chopped much better, his.

This continued on the entire time in potions. Though we didn't talk, even once, I could tell that he knew I was trying to best him. By the end of class, none of my ingredients were better than his and though I hated to admit it, he was slightly better than I was. Determined to do better next time, I walked to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. All the while, I was wondering if Malfoy had told the truth and he really wasn't trying before.

"Hermione are you alright? You seem kind of quiet."

It was Harry. I shook all thoughts of the arrogant Slytherin out of my mind and walked a bit faster to keep up with Harry, "Yeah, I'm fine."

We walked into the classroom. Professor Black looked quite excited, almost jumping up and down. We soon realized that we were starting our nonverbal dueling today. Professor Black had taught nonverbal spells much better than Snape had and even Neville could do a summoning spell nonverbally by the end of the lesson. I partnered up with Neville as Dean really wanted to duel Harry and Neville was usually my partner anyway.

After an uneventful day of classes, I went up the common room and flopped down on my favorite armchair by the fire. Harry, Ron, Lavender, and Ginny came and sat down near me at one point but I was busy too busy reading to give them any attention.

As I took out my notebook to answer the extra credit charms questions, I remembered that I was going to best Malfoy next time at Potions. I grabbed my potions book and flipped the pages until I saw our potion, the Himpheri. Thinking that I'd better see what we were going to do next, I saw that we had already finished three days' worth in one class. At this rate, we'd be done in about a week and a half while the rest of the class would take a month. Feeling oddly proud, I tried to memorize the next steps.

Detention was with Professor Slughorn again, though today was the last day. Malfoy and I were just cleaning cauldrons, our wands taken from us.

After a while I asked him the question that was bothering me, "Were you really not trying at potions before?"

Malfoy shrugged, "I didn't have to because Professor Snape gave me Outstanding even if I was terrible."

"All the Slytherins?" I asked, wondering how unfair Snape had really been.

"No," Malfoy answered simply. We were silent for a while before he asked, "Did you really stay with me for half an hour, yesterday?"

I shrugged, "It was my fault. Why?"

He didn't answer and we finished the cleaning without another word.

Friday was bright and sunny. I went down to breakfast quite early and sat down with Neville. Harry, Ron, and Ginny had Quidditch practice in the morning now.

Potions was almost the same as yesterday. We didn't talk but I was still trying to do better than him. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

I spent most of the day contemplating how much better Malfoy was than me and when detention time came around, I still had no idea.

Filtch was in charge of our detention today so I had no hope at all. Muttering about old punishments and how much better they were, Filtch led the two of us to the Forbidden Forest.

"Last year was the best. If you stepped a toe out of line, it was the Cruciatus Curse for you!" I winced, putting children under that kind of torture was just cruel. "Well, see these plants? Madame Pomfrey needs them so you'll need to collect two baskets full." He handed us each one. It wasn't too big, actually. "Just make sure you don't get bit, they do like to drink blood." With that, Filtch left, leaving us a single lantern.

"Drink blood?" I said, I had never heard of these plants.

"Yeah, pick them like this," Malfoy pinched one at the root and put it in his basket.

"Okay," I reached down to pinch one but a thorn from its stem pricked me, "Ouch." A small bead of blood blossomed on my finger near the thorn.

"Granger, I'll do it, just sit down on that rock over there and don't come near these things. They're slightly poisonous so it will hurt for a while after it pricks you."

He was right, my hand suddenly exploded in pain and it was all I could do to not yell out. After what seemed like forever, though it was only a minute on my watch, it lessened to a dull pain. I watched as Malfoy expertly picked the plants. My eyes wandered to the castle and I looked up at Gryffindor tower. My thoughts wandering to a Defense essay I had yet to start, I looked at stars twinkling merrily. From my parent's house, which was near the city, I hadn't seen this many stars shine so brightly.

I felt a light tap on my head and looked up to see Malfoy, "We're done, come on."

I followed behind him, holding the lantern as he held both baskets of the plants. It wasn't until we reached inside the castle that I noticed Malfoy's hands.

"Malfoy!" I said, "Your hands, they're bleeding." I took the baskets from him and set them on the floor. I took both of his hands which he had shoved into his pockets as soon as I had taken the baskets. They were curled into fists. I tried to pry it open gently. "Let me see," I said.

"No, I'm fine."

"You're not fine, a single one of those thorns pricked me and I still feel it."

"Granger, it's okay," Malfoy grabbed the two baskets from the ground and walked over to Filtch's office. I almost ran to keep up with his long strides.

As we left his office, I looked up at him. I hadn't noticed it before but he was now a bit more than half a head taller than me. "Go see Madame Pomfrey," I urged him.

"Granger really, stop bothering me." With that, he left toward the dungeons.

As I headed upstairs, the little thorn fell from my palm and even the dull pain stopped. I hoped Malfoy would be okay. He was really stupid, I could only guess how much those vile plants hurt him. I muttered a few curses directed at Filtch and went upstairs to my bed.

Breakfast the next morning was a pleasant affair. Since there was Quidditch practice, I was wondering whether or not I should go to Hogsmede. Neville came and sat next to me.

"Hi Neville," I said, glancing up from the Daily Prophet.

"Hermione, did you know they opened a book store in Hogsmede?"

"They did?" I asked, intrigued.

"Yeah, I'm going to Hogsmede so do you want to come with me?"

"Sure, Neville," I said. His face lit up with a smile. I spent most of breakfast talking about the new book store that was actually part of a smaller branch of Flourish and Blotts.

I went upstairs to fetch my outdoor cloak and I walked together with Neville to Hogsmede. Neville seemed worried about a Transfiguration essay I had finished last week.

"Let's go in the Three Broomsticks and I'll help you," I said.

"Thanks, Hermione," Neville grinned. We ordered two Butterbeers and went to sit down in at a table in the corner.

A while later, I made my way to Flourish and Blotts where I saw a load of interesting books. Neville had gone to a Herbology shop to help Professor Sprout choose plants for the first year class. I went to a place where you could read and I opened a book on useful everyday charms.

I grinned happily at the smell of fresh paper and never-before-opened books. I was about to start reading the first paragraph when Malfoy came and stood near me.

"Hello, Granger!"

"Malfoy? What are you doing here?"

"Hunting Hippogriffs." I scowled.

I looked at his hands. They were still covered with scratches, "Are your hands okay?"

"Really, Granger, I thought we'd been over this."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," I said, "We need to work on our potions essay. And at the rate we're working, we'd be done with our potion in about ten more days."

"Let's go, then."

I agreed since Neville was going back with Professor Sprout anyway. We left the shop after I bought a couple books and went outside. It had started to drizzle lightly and by the time we got to the castle, we were both quite wet.

Drying myself off with my wand, I headed off to the library with Malfoy. Excitedly, I searched the library for books that mentioned the Himpheri potion and came back to the table with a teetering stack. Malfoy had a couple books strewn on the table already. We each took notes on it in silence until I finally stood up and decided to stop for today. The sun was already setting and I realized we accidentally missed dinner.

Malfoy must have noticed too because he said, "Hungry?"

"Yeah," I said, picking up my stack of notes and putting them in my bag.

As I put away the books, I noticed Malfoy had left leaving his stack of books at the table. I decided to put them back because I didn't want Madame Pince to get angry and not let me in the library. Angry at Malfoy at leaving me to clean up after him, I left the library a while later.

"Granger!"

"Malfoy? I had clean up after you!"

"Don't get your hair all bushy," Malfoy said, "Here."

He handed be a sandwich and a slice of cake, "Thanks." I said feeling bad for yelling at him, "Sorry."

"Sorry?"

"For getting angry at you," I explained.

"Oh," Malfoy said. And I would swear that he actually gave me a small smile before walking off.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Note: Sorry for the short chapter but I promise the next one will be longer! Oh yeah, and I still don't own anything.

Sunday was quite dull. Harry and Ron kept pestering me for answers to the essays they had due tomorrow and I read an interesting book I had picked up from the library on Himpheri potions. I drew an outline of our essay, Malfoy owed me, and occasionally helped Ron and Harry with their work.

Monday morning was actually quite bright and sunny and I was excited to go to my classes, until I realized I had potions first thing in the morning. Deciding not to let Malfoy get me down, I put my hair up in a ponytail and changed into my school robes. I hurried down to breakfast and sat near Harry, Ron, and Ginny.

"Hi!" I said, drenching my waffles in syrup.

"How's your potions project coming along?" Ginny asked me.

"Pretty well, actually, we're almost done, we will be by the end of this week!"

"That's great Hermione," Ron said with a mouthful of food, some things never change, "Seeing as you were paired up with Malfoy."

"Yeah," I smiled, "After this week no more working with that ferret anymore!"

The four of us walked out where we waved goodbye to Ginny, who went to Charms, and Harry, Ron, and I headed to the dungeons.

I headed to my work station where Malfoy was simmering our potion. "Granger," he acknowledged.

"Malfoy."

We split up the work this time and it went much faster until we were done with what we needed to do today, we just had to wait for the potion to boil and turn pink. We just kind of sat there not saying much. Wondering if I should talk to him, I suddenly remembered that I never properly apologized for falling on him during that detention as Madame Pomfrey had shooed me out right when he woke up. Remembering the memory in the dungeon, I must have blushed slightly because Malfoy asked me what was wrong.

"Oh," I said, caught off guard, "I really am sorry about, you know, falling on you. In the dungeon, I mean," If I was going to make this awkward, I may as well say the rest of it, "And thanks for trying to prevent me from breaking my head."

Malfoy was looking at me with an expressionless face, "Right."

That was all he was going to say? Well, suit yourself, Malfoy. I peered into the cauldron and saw that it was still not pink yet. That left me to my thoughts as I glanced around the room. Why had Malfoy tried to break my fall anyway? The question danced around in my mind until I got sick of it. I voiced my question. I got no reply. What did I expect?

Our potion had turned pink so I put it all in a large vial for storing unfinished potions and Malfoy went and put it on Professor Slughorn's desk.

Defense was pretty fun, actually, because Sirius, or as I call him in class, Professor Black, had an interesting lecture complete with real examples on students and I ended up with a couple sheets of notes in my notebook.

The rest of the week flew by quite quickly and before I knew it, it was Friday, the last day of term before break. Malfoy and I had finished our potion just in time to hand in with our essay by the end of class and Professor Slughorn had beamed. Needless to say, Gryffindor and Slytherin won quite a few points each.

I was actually staying at Hogwarts this Christmas and I told Harry and Ron so during dinner.

"Why?" Harry asked, "Don't you usually go skiing with your parents?"

"Yeah, and if you couldn't, Mum said you could come to the Burrow like Harry, remember?" Ron said.

"I know, but this is my last year at Hogwarts and I really wanted to stay here. We're already halfway done with the school year!"

"Aww, is ickle Hermione-kins going to miss homework and tests, ooh and you can't forget the library!" Ron grinned.

"Shut up, Ron!" I said, "Won't you miss Hogwarts, too? And the Christmas celebrations are really festive!"

"I know what you mean," Harry said quietly, next to me, "Hogwarts was the first place I called home."

"Aww, Harry!" I gave him a big hug which he didn't quite appreciate.

So the next morning when I woke up and waved goodbye to Harry and Ron. I made myself to the Great Hall which now only had a single table for the students.

I looked around at who else was staying. Parvati and Padma were, I heard they had family trouble with the war last year. There was also a first year, a second year, and three fourth year Gryffindors I only knew by face. From Ravenclaw, there was a sixth year girl named Florence who, I heard from Percy, as Penelope Clearwater's little sister, three boys who were probably in seventh year, and Luna. I wondered why Florence and Luna stayed at Hogwarts. There weren't any Hufflepuffs and ten Slytherins. The Slytherins ranged from first year to my year and I didn't know any of the other than Malfoy.

At dinner that Saturday night, McGonagall stood up to make an announcement. "We, the staff, decided it would be fun to have a Christmas Ball this year at Hogwarts. Due to the fact that there aren't many of you, it's just for fun and there will be a feast," McGonagall then added as an afterthought, "Do try and dress up a little though."

The days leading up to the Christmas Ball, about which I was quite excited, I spent most of my time alone. There really wasn't anyone I wanted to spend time with anyhow. I did spend quite a lot of time in the library, however, trying to read as many books as I could before I would be forced to leave.

On Christmas Eve, I sat at dinner, talking to Florence Clearwater. Though she was a good two years younger than me, she was quite clever. I had gone to Hogsmede earlier that day where Florence came and introduced herself. We did some last minute Christmas shopping and by the time we came back, we were pretty good friends.

Christmas day dawned bright and snowy and I looked out onto the grounds. From our dormitory window, I could see the Quidditch pitch which was now blanketed in snow. Parvati was still asleep, a large pile of presents at the foot of her bed.

Presents! I almost forgot. Hurrying over to my own pile, which was a respectable size, itself, I began opening presents. I received a load of books in all from various people. I also had a box of sugar quills, a couple chocolate frogs, a tin of cockroach clusters that I'd never eat, some of Hagrid's rock-like cakes, a purple Weasley sweater, and a handful of money both wizard and muggle.

The day went by pretty fast and before I knew it, it was three in the afternoon and I went upstairs to get ready for the ball. I tried to tame my forever bushy hair and wore pale blue dress robes.

Before I knew it, it was six and so I went down to the Great Hall. It was breathtaking. The Christmas trees in the hall were beautifully decorated, even more so than this morning, and the entire place was decorated with sparkling bubbles and festive, floating candles. Live fairies flew around the trees making them sparkle brighter and a table filled with food was near one edge of the hall.

The best thing about the entire thing was also the least expected. There were at least a hundred and fifty students here. I guess they decided to come to Hogwarts for the Ball.

"Hermione!" I heard a call. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Lavender came running up to me.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked, surprised and extremely happy to see them.

"Surprise!" the four of them cheered.

"You really thought you'd have a Christmas Ball with that few people?" Ginny asked, grinning.

"Really, Hermione, the brightest witch of our age," Harry joined in.

"Oh shut up, Harry!" I said, grinning broadly, "How long did you know?"

"They announced it on the Hogwarts express, it was a surprise for you guys staying here," Ron explained.

We enjoyed ourselves, dancing, talking, and eating. After a while, Harry and Ginny and Lavender and Ron went in pairs to go outside in the gardens and I sat alone at the table. I wasn't lonely at all, rather enjoying the music and admiring the decorations.

"Granger?" a surprised voice asked.

I turned around and saw Malfoy. "What?" I asked.

Malfoy gave me a once over, and said, "You look different."

"Thanks," I said slowly, not knowing whether or not that was a compliment.

"I mean, you look great," Malfoy said hastily, "Aren't you bored?"

"Not really," I said truthfully. Then I remembered what he'd said earlier. He said I looked great? Me, a Mudblood? I didn't really know what to think because he had sounded genuine. He sat down next to me. "What?" I asked him, wondering why he was here.

"Nothing," Malfoy smirked. I rolled my eyes, what a Malfoy-ish thing to do. I decided to go outside, away from the likes of Malfoy. The cool air was refreshing and the bushes were sparkling with fairies and covered with pink roses.

To my complete disgust, I came across both Harry and Ginny and Lavender and Ron snogging. On both occasions, I left without even being noticed. I sat on a small two person swing near the single door that led back to the Great Hall until the four of them came back.

We talked a bit more, I trying to forget how I had last seen them. Before long, they were going back since we still had a day of break left.

I walked back up to the common room, noticing bits of my hair falling from where I had pinned them. I went to my dormitory and just after I had changed, I fell asleep on my bed.

The next day was dismal compared to yesterday. With all the excitement gone, I stayed in my dormitory most of the day. When dinner came around, I plodded downstairs, bored.

An uneventful dinner was spent with me wishing Harry, Ron, and Ginny would come back sooner. As I headed back upstairs, I heard a soft noise coming from to my left. I ran towards the noise now noticing it as cries for help. I turned unto an old wing that I'd only ever gone in for my Prefect duties.

"Hello?" I asked tentatively, "Anyone here?"

"Granger?" It was Malfoy.

"Where are you?"

"In the wall," Malfoy's voice said, "I fell into it."

I pushed on the wall where I heard his voice and found that I fell right through it, much like Platform nine and three-quarters. I was in a dimly lit closet.

"Granger! Now you're stuck too! This just gets better and better, doesn't it?" I noticed that the light came from Malfoy's wand.

"We can't get out?" I asked, worried.

"Well not from the inside! If you'd listened to me and tapped that goblin on the wall, I'd be out."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"I've seen people trapped in here in my prefect duties."

"Oh," I said.

"I hope you know that no one's coming here until tomorrow afternoon, Granger."

"What?" I asked, this was terrible.

"There's no prefect duties until tomorrow afternoon and we're lucky we were trapped today because no one comes here during the holidays."

I sighed, "There's has to be a way out." I tried a couple dozen spells, the spells becoming more and more complex until I gave up. Malfoy was right. We were stuck.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Note: I don't own anything, but enjoy this next chapter!

The tiny closet had almost no space and Malfoy had decided to sit down. Wanting to sit down, too, I tried to make myself small by pulling my knees to my chest, though my shoulders were still pressed against Malfoy. We just sat there in silence for a couple minutes until Malfoy broke the silence.

"I'm sorry."

What? Did Malfoy just apologize? Malfoy's _never_ apologized. "Why?" I asked.

"For acting like a jerk," he said. I was about to say something when he stopped me, "And for not answering your question. I didn't really know the answer either until yesterday and even then, I didn't believe it."

"What question?"

"The one you asked in potions, remember?" Malfoy noticed the blank expression on my face, "About why I tried and stopped you from falling. In all honesty I wouldn't have done that before so I was confused too." He paused, "But then I figured out why. I guess I just never realized it before but I liked you as a person, admired you actually, and I'm not even sure when I started feeling that way. Because you've always been a good person, I could tell years ago. So that was why I tried and stopped you.

"After I actually got to know you this year, I found I admired you even more. You work hard in everything you do and you actually stayed with me when I was in the hospital wing. And after that detention with those dangerous plants, you were concerned. For me."

"I should have been," I said, "Anyone would be concerned."

"Not about me," Malfoy said, grimacing, "All my life."

With that we were silent. It was a lot to swallow and I didn't know how I felt about it. Malfoy, the muggle-born hating ex-death eater admired me? And a part of me wondered what had happened in his past to make him feel so much for a little bit of concern but that seemed too personal. I had no idea what to say so I just sat there in silence.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked finally.

"You were the first person to genuinely care about me, no matter how little," Malfoy said, "And the other reason, ask me tomorrow."

"Okay."

I don't know how I did it, but I fell asleep. When I woke up, I noticed that my head was on Malfoy's shoulder. Startled, I tried to go as far from Malfoy as possible, my cheeks burning.

"Good morning to you, too," Malfoy said with a laugh.

"Sorry!" I said, "I hope you weren't uncomfortable."

"You look pretty cute when you're embarrassed," Malfoy said, pointing his lit up wand at me.

I gaped at him, lost for words.

"And no, I wasn't," Malfoy said. He checked his watch, "Three hours."

We sat there for a while. I was trying not to look at him because I was still embarrassed and his comments didn't make it easier. Only after a bit of thinking about the day before did I remember what Malfoy had told me.

"So what was the other reason," I asked him, "You know, about why you told me what you did yesterday."

"I'll tell you when we finally get out of this closet. You know, I don't think this is very safe. Secret places all around the school. If no one patrolled here, we'd be stuck forever."

"Yeah so what do you want to do for three hours?" I asked

We ended up talking about our classes and I found out that Malfoy was actually quite an interesting person to talk to. He was intelligent enough that we actually had a discussion on whether or not the Fidelius Charm could be used so that the secret keeper was actually the person who cast it.

Finally, we heard footsteps walk past the place we were stuck.

"Hey!" Malfoy said loudly, "Tap the goblin on the wall, will you? We're stuck!"

The door slid open and we ran out, glad to be free of the stupid closet.

"Hermione? Malfoy? What's going on?" It was Harry, Ron, and Ginny.

"We got trapped!" I said sadly, "Since yesterday!"

"With Malfoy?" Ron sniggered.

"Shut it Weasley," Malfoy said angrily.

"Well, we're out now," I said, "How did you know where we were?"

Harry pointed to a faded piece of parchment in his robes pocket. The Marauder's Map.

"Well, see you, Malfoy," I waved.

It wasn't until we went to the Great Hall for a late lunch that I realized Malfoy hadn't ever told me the other reason. Piling food on our plate, I told them how we were trapped in the closet.

"What did you do?" Ginny asked, a glint in her eye. I decided to kick her under the table.

"We didn't do _anything_," I said pointedly at Ginny. She chuckled. I kicked her again.

The weekend went by quickly and soon it was Monday morning. I headed to the Great Hall alone since I didn't know if Harry and Ron were awake. When I was almost there, a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me into an empty classroom.

"The other reason I told you I admire you is because I don't just admire you, I love you, Hermione." I only just realized it was Malfoy and I looked into his eyes, they were serious. Before I could say anything, he kissed me on the forehead and walked off.

I was probably just standing there for a whole minute until I came back to my senses. What the hell just happened? This wasn't right. Pureblood-loving Malfoy fancied me? And why did he kiss me?

I went to the Great Hall, not even glancing to the Slytherin table. My brain was in overdrive. I wished there was some sort of book that I could rely upon. Something! But for now I was just quietly picking at my pancake.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Ginny asked, sliding down next to me and helping herself to some toast.

"Nothing, just thinking," I said. My mind was reeling with what happened, I was not looking forward to potions. Not at all.

Unfortunately for me, time sped up and I was at potions in no time. I had considered blowing it off but then thought better of it. I was not getting on Slughorn's bad side.

Malfoy came and sat next to me. I ignored him completely unsure of what to do. I didn't like him. Not at all. He was just an idiot who had always been a complete prat to me since first year.

Since we were done with our potion, we were allowed to work on assignments for other classes. I brought out a timeline that I had to fill out for History of Magic and brought out my textbook as a reference.

"Why are you ignoring me?" It was Malfoy. I didn't even spare him a glance. What the heck was he doing? I heard him let out a sigh. "Granger, look, I say things like to everyone. It worked on you."

"What?"

"You know, what I said. Look." Malfoy went over to Pansy Parkinson and kissed her on the lips. She seemed surprised and I think she giggled.

"Oh, so you do that to everyone?" I asked rhetorically, "You're such a creep."

Malfoy smirked at me, "Well, it's not like you didn't already think that."

"True," I said. Everything was back to normal, I felt so relieved. Then I noticed Malfoy frowning slightly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," then he looked sideways at me, "Why? Do you fancy me?"

"No! Nothing like that!" I said, frustrated that Malfoy could make me blush so easily, "You just looked sad."

"Well, I'm not," Malfoy said coolly.

"Okay, then," I returned to the timeline.

The days passed without much event, though I must admit that potions wasn't that bad as study time. Malfoy was, though I hated to admit it, really good. And not just in potions; in everything, and he even helped me revising my work. It confused me as to _when_ he had time to do all this as I never saw him study. Then again, I didn't see him apart from potions.

That's why I guess I was surprised when I saw Malfoy in the library on Thursday. When he saw me, he walked over. I couldn't help but notice how Malfoy always walked like he owned the place.

"Hello, Granger," he sat across from me on the rectangular table.

"Malfoy."

"Anything you need help with?"

"Yeah actually," I said, "How are you so good at everything? When did you have the time to learn all this?"

"Through the years. I guess you just judged me on my skill level during my earlier Hogwarts years, huh?"

I thought about it. Malfoy really was an idiot but did I really see him through my first impression of him? I didn't think so, attitude-wise anyway. He was still a bully, wasn't he? Then again, he hadn't called me a Mud-blood all year and it wasn't like he was going around picking fights, in potions anyway. Was I completely wrong? No, I couldn't be. "Of course not," I said, trying to sound confident.

I think he saw right through that, because he gave me a signature smirk and just sat there. I raised an eyebrow, wondering if he was staying here. "If you need my help." Malfoy said.

"Oh thank you so much, Great Malfoy! I, a foolish Muggleborn, would need your expertise to read my book."

He rolled his eyes but grinned slightly all the same, standing up to leave. Glad I could return to my book, I waved a cheeky goodbye to Malfoy and turned the page. It was only after he left that we'd just had an almost-friendly conversation.

After completing a couple chapters, I yawned and went to check out the book. When I reached the portrait hole I saw Lavender Brown come out, sobbing. "Lavender? What's wrong?" She shook her head and walked off.

Wondering what had happened, I went in the common room and saw a small group of people surrounding Ron. Harry was just sitting there but Ginny was shouting something at Ron.

"Harry, what happened?" I went over to him.

"Ron broke up with Lavender," Harry said, "I don't know why, though. He's my best friend, but I don't understand him when it comes to his relationship choices."

I frowned, "Is Ginny chewing him out?"

"Yup," Harry said, "Love the woman, but she's got a Weasley temper. At least it's not as bad as when Ron broke up with you at the beginning of the year. Ginny was livid, then."

"Ginny did that?" I didn't remember much of that time because I was pretty sad. Ron had said that he didn't think he wanted to have a relationship with me because I 'didn't interest him anymore.'

"Yeah," Harry said.

I felt very glad to have a best friend like Ginny. She really did care but I hadn't realized how much until now. Seeing Ron being yelled at, I couldn't help but think that he deserved it, just a little.

The group dispersed after a while and the three of us, Harry, Ginny, and I, sat around the fire. Lavender still hadn't returned and Ron had gone to his dormitory.

That night, when I feel asleep, I heard Lavender sobbing. I decided to go and comfort her, I did know how she felt.

"Lavender, it's okay, you can do so much better than Ron," I said, putting my arm around her.

"Hermione's right, Lav," Parvati said.

We eventually made her feel better when Parvati told her about a cute Ravenclaw who had told her to introduce him to Lavender.

The next morning dawned cloudy and wet and I trudged to breakfast feeling sleepy. I slid in next to Harry. "Good morning," I said, trying to hide a yawn.

"Did you stay up all night reading, again, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"I don't do that these days," I said. Noticing his amused expression I added, "That often, anyway. It was Lavender."

"Oh," Harry said spreading jam on his toast, "Have you seen Ginny?"

"No," I said, "Ron isn't at breakfast, either, is he?"

"No," Harry said, "I hope he comes to potions! The polyjuice is actually really hard without you doing all the work."

I smiled, "In second year."

"Don't get all braggy on me," Harry said.

I grinned, "What's hard?"

"Cutting up the lacewings properly, for one. They keep disintegrating."

"Use a mild strengthening charm."

"Oh, thanks, Hermione," Harry said. We walked down to the dungeons. Ron was sitting in the classroom. "Oh, good," Harry said.

"Well, see you, Harry," I said, making my way over to my usual table.

Malfoy came and sat next to me a couple minutes later. "Hey Granger!"

"You seem awfully happy this morning," I noted.

"Well it's not every day that you see a little Weaslette hexing her own brother in classroom, is it?"

"What?" I asked, surprised. "Ginny did that?"

"Yup, she's quite good, you know."

I snickered. Malfoy threw me a questioning look. "You complimented a Weasley."

"The Weaslette," he clarified.

"Ginny."

"Yeah, her."

"What about Ron?" I asked.

"What about him?" Malfoy asked.

I threw him I look, "Would you compliment him?"

"Never."

"Why?"

"I don't like him," Malfoy said, "Would you compliment me?"

"I don't know," I admitted, "I might."

Malfoy looked surprised, "Really?"

"I guess," I said.

I took a book out of my bag and started reading it, fingering the next page, when I heard someone clear their throat. I looked up, it was Ron.

"What?" I asked, "I can't help you do your potion, you know."

"No," Ron said, starting to turn the color of his hair, "I was wondering if, you know, we could. What I'm trying to say is that while I realized why I broke up with Lavender last night. I liked you. I never stopped and I'm really sorry about breaking up with you but I—"

"Ron," I said, not sure if I could control my voice.

Malfoy put his hand on mine under the table. He squeezed it and I actually felt better. "She doesn't want to, Weasley," Malfoy said, "You had your chance and you blew it. Hermione deserves someone better."

Ron looked stunned, "That's for Hermione to decide, not you, you Death Eater."

"Ron!" I said angrily, "Don't call him that! He's not! And he's right, I don't want to be with you anymore, okay? Please understand," Ron turned to go, "Ron!"

"Hermione," Malfoy said softly, "let it go."

I nodded, tears ready to spill from my eyes. I had my head bent, trying very hard not to cry and the whole time, Malfoy was holding my hand gently.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Note: Nope, don't own anything.

Potions ended without my knowing. "Hermione? Class is over."

"Right," I said. I mechanically picked up my bag and headed toward the door. It was already the start of the next class so Harry and Ron had left.

"Are you okay?" Malfoy asked me.

"Yeah," I lied.

He walked with me, "Come on."

"What?" I asked.

"Come with me, it's okay to miss a class. What do you have next?"

"Defense."

"Oh, Sirius won't care. If I know my uncle, he never has and never will. So come on."

I let him lead me by the hand to the lake. It was a brisk January day but everything was much less damp than this morning. I pulled my cloak around me with my free hand. We went to a grassy slope that gently made its way into the water. Going on the flat, grassy top of the slope, Malfoy sat down. He had his long legs stretched out and he propped himself up on his elbows. I sat next to him, my knees tucked against my chest.

We sat there in silence until Malfoy broke it, "I often come up here to think, you know." I didn't answer. "Well, if you want to talk, I'm here, okay?"

I nodded. Did I want to talk to Malfoy about it? He was trying to make me feel better and I could hear the sincerity in his voice. "Well, Ron. I mean, how could he?" I said in a whisper. Malfoy moved to sit near me and put an arm around me on my shoulder. "I mean, it was okay that he did it once, and we were friends then, but I don't know. I know I shouldn't do it again, right?"

"Do you really love Weasley?" Malfoy asked me.

"Well, as a friend, yeah. But more like an idiotic brother, I suppose."

"If you don't it's alright. You know how you're supposed to love your father? Well, I thought so too. But I didn't and it's okay because he didn't do anything to encourage me to do so."

That was actually pretty good logic. I thought about it. Maybe I wasn't supposed to love Ron _that_ way. "You're right." I said, sighing.

"Well don't act all surprised," he said lightheartedly, "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, thank you," I said, "Truly."

"Don't worry about it, do you want to do something interesting? You know, because it's your first time skipping class."

"It's not the first time!"

"It doesn't count if you're in the hospital wing, Hermione." I didn't have a response for that and Malfoy threw me a smirk. He looked thoughtful for a moment and then he smiled, "Ever ridden a broom?"

I gave him a horrified look. After those few basic flying lessons we had in first year, I had decided not to give brooms another chance. Ever.

"Today's your lucky day!" Malfoy grinned. He summoned his broom.

"A Firebolt? Isn't that model too old for Malfoys?"

"Well, I like my Firebolt," Malfoy looked at me, "And I didn't think you'd know this is a Firebolt."

"Harry and Ron," I explained, "And I really can't ride a broomstick. Really."

Malfoy only looked stumped for half a second, "Don't worry, you won't have to."

"Well I'm more than happy to watch you," I said, glad I didn't have to ride the dangerous thing. I'd seen enough Quidditch games to know that it wasn't uncommon to fall off the broomsticks.

"No, Granger, I'm not giving up that easily, you're going to ride with me." He didn't ask but said it more like he expected me to do so.

"No way!" I said, "I'm not ending up in the Hospital Wing."

He chuckled, which annoyed me, "You won't! Don't worry Granger." Without warning, he picked me up around the waist and put me up in front of the broom.

"Malfoy!" I said, "I have no idea how to work these things!"

He sat down behind me and kicked off, his large hands over mine, basically steering the thing himself. I closed my eyes wondering when it was going to end. "I'm going really slowly. Are you going to open your eyes?"

"How did you know I closed them?"

"It just seemed a very Granger thing to do." I opened them and to my surprise we were flying lazily over the lake. "This isn't worth getting angry, is it?"

"Not too much, anyway," I said. Since we were going slowly, flying seemed much better, enjoyable, in fact. Malfoy dipped us down so the toe of my shoe skimmed the water.

I'm not even sure why, but I really enjoyed myself that day. Even afterwards, when I thought of what Ron had said, it didn't hurt anymore. We had spent the rest of the day doing not much in particular, mostly talking and laughing. When I finally went up to the common room after bidding a farewell to Malfoy, I saw Harry and Ginny waiting for me at the fire.

"Hermione!" Ginny got up, "You missed lunch so I brought you this." She handed me a plate of food and it was only then that I realized I was hungry after missing lunch.

"Where were you?" Harry asked me curiously.

"That doesn't matter!" Ginny snapped at him. She turned to me, "I'm so sorry about Ron! I heard about what he was going to do but, well, I tried to stop him. Honestly, I did this morning, but my stupid brother. I'm sorry, Hermione!"

"It's not your fault, Ginny. And I'm actually not that upset," I said, "I worked it out so it's okay."

"Oh Hermione!" Ginny gave me a big hug.

"Ginny!" I said, surprised. She waved goodbye to me, gave Harry a peck on the cheek and went upstairs.

"Hermione," Harry said, "What were you doing with Malfoy all day?"

"Nothing!" I said.

"I saw you and Malfoy going outside from the window in Sirius's classroom."

"That was nothing," I said, for some reason I wanted to keep the afternoon to myself.

"Okay then, want to grab a late dinner? They're still going."

"I'm eating right now!" I said.

"Right, goodnight then, Hermione," Harry said walking toward the boy's staircase, "Oh and Ron will come around. You know how stubborn he can be, but he really does care."

I went upstairs and lay down on my bed only then realizing what I had done. I had blew off classes for an entire day and spent them with Malfoy. What was wrong with me? I tried replaying, in my head, what we had done, hoping I hadn't done anything too stupid while I was upset. Then I realized that I had basically poured my heart out about Ron. I groaned. At least I had a weekend to catch up on the work I had missed. Thinking through the day even more, I smiled when I remembered flying on a broomstick. It had been pretty fun and then I remembered that Malfoy had called me 'Hermione' a couple of times, too. I felt weird thinking about that. If anyone had said that Malfoy would be calling me anything but 'Mudblood' last year, I would have thought they were about as sane as Luna Lovegood. With these thoughts, I soon drifted off to sleep.

The weekend was spent doing nothing much other than working on my assignments and helping Harry. For the record, I was ignoring Ron just like he was ignoring me.

When Monday came around, I was in a lively mood and I couldn't wait for classes.

"Hermione," Ginny said at breakfast, "You're grinning like an idiot."

"Sorry!" I said hastily.

"You don't need to apologize," Ginny chuckled.

"Right," I said.

"Hermione must be excited for the next part of our potions project," Harry said, sliding in next to Ginny, "You after you and Malfoy finished your potion, you had nothing to do at potions."

"Yeah," I said, "I can't wait! I hope we having something challenging!"

"As always," Harry rolled his eyes, "Can you ever wish for something easy?"

"Then what's the point?" I questioned.

Ginny giggled, "Typical Hermione."

I went down to potions on Harry's one side while Ron was standing on Harry's left. We went in the potions classroom and I instinctively went to the table where Malfoy was sitting.

"Alright class!" Professor Slughorn grinned, once we all sat down at our seats, "For the next month we'll be doing a review of the most useful potions in the wizarding world."

I slumped a little in my seat, just a review?

"But this isn't just any review," Professor Slughorn said, "We'll be doing the real thing! Each of you, in pairs will be given a location and a list of potions. The ingredients for the potions will be in the area though you need to find them and prepare your potions before a month is up."

"But what about our other classes?" I asked.

"That will be taken care of, don't you worry!" Professor Slughorn said, "You'll have weekly homework for all your classes that you'll have to turn in at the end of our trip."

"So how this will work is you and your partner will be given a list of potions and a portkey. At your location, you'll have your provisions. A Hogwarts tent, some potion making tools, vials, and food. In case of an emergency apparate to any safe location. The only reason I am allowed to let you go on this trip is because you can apparate. Hogwarts hasn't done this fun little exercise since I was teaching here before I retired. I hope you'll all be responsible."

Professor Slughorn talked about the trip some more while I took notes, this was going to be fun! Professor Slughorn told us that we'd be leaving tomorrow and that our belongings would be sent to our rooms in the tent.

The bell rang and I ran over to Harry, excitedly talking about it. We went upstairs to Defense talking.

"A whole month of real potion brewing and ingredient collecting!" I said, happily.

"But doesn't that mean you have to be alone with Malfoy for a whole month?" Harry asked me.

"Oh my god, I didn't even think of that!" I said, groaning. Harry grinned, "Shut up, Harry!"

That evening I sat down in the common room with Ginny telling her about the trip. That day had been exhausting what with all the teachers giving us enough homework for a month.

"So you'll just be making potions for a month?" Ginny asked after I explained what we were doing.

"Yeah, and our homework from other classes," I said, clarifying.

"Won't that be boring?" Ginny asked bluntly.

"No, it'll be fascinating," I said, crossing my arms.

"Okay then," Ginny said, "But you know, anything can happen. You and Malfoy alone, in a tent."

"Ginny!" I said, "You're just as bad as Harry!"

"That's what makes us a great couple," she said smugly.

I rolled my eyes, "But I'll miss you, Ginny."

"I'll miss you, too, but I really have to go now."

"Where?"

"I won't see my boyfriend for a month, Hermione, do you really have to ask?"

"Oh," I said, understanding dawning on me, "Um, have fun."

"I will," and she skipped out the portrait hole.

Soon enough, it was Tuesday. I walked down to potions alone as Harry wanted to say goodbye to Ginny, again. I went and sat at my seat where Malfoy already was. Professor Slughorn told us that our belongings were already sent to the tents and that we'd leave by portkey today.

Our class trooped out the castle behind Professor Slughorn because we had to walk past the wards. I was walking ahead with Harry and Ron, though I still wasn't speaking with Ron.

After a couple minutes, we passed the wards and Professor Slughorn handed each pair a portkey. I saw the pairs vanishing one by one and I hugged Harry goodbye before he and Ron left. Professor Slughorn gave me a coin that was our portkey. I went over to where Malfoy was standing.

"Our portkey," I said, showing him the coin. He pinched on end of the coin and soon after, it activated and we left.

We landed in a thick forest near a small waterfall. I saw the tent with the Hogwarts crest and headed toward it. "Come on, Malfoy!" I said, he was still looking at our surroundings.

"I wonder where we are," Malfoy said, catching up to me.

"I don't know," I said. I lifted the flap of the tent and saw a magnificent living room with squashy armchairs, a coffee table, and a roaring fire. I followed Malfoy who was walking to another room which was the kitchen.

"This is great," I said, grinning.

"It's really small," Malfoy drawled, "Well, let's see what else is in this cramped tent." There was a small hallway which had two rooms. I followed Malfoy in the first one which had a small bed and a bathroom. An expensive jewel green suitcase was at the foot of the bed. So this must be Malfoy's room. I went to the other room which had my black trunk inside. I saw Malfoy standing outside my room. "I can't come in here!"

"Oh well, it is a Hogwarts tent," I said, "So it must be like the dormitories. You know, how boys can't go into the girls' rooms."

"Yeah, yeah," Malfoy said, "You don't have to tell me everything, I'm not as dumb as your Gryffindor friends, you know."

"Gryffindors are not dumb!" I said, storming out of my room to Malfoy.

"Whatever," Malfoy said, "Where are our potion instructions anyway?"

"On the coffee table in the living room," I said, walking over and pointing it out.

I sat down on one of the armchairs and picked it up. Essence of Dittany, Vitamix, the Draught of Peace, and Amortentia.

"Those are simple," Malfoy scoffed, reading them over my shoulder, "We should be done with them in a week."

"All of them?" I asked, wondering if we could.

"Sure," Malfoy said, "But let's eat something first."

"Professor Slughorn said there was food in the kitchen."

"I heard," Malfoy said dryly.

We both ate a little and after we were done, I suggested finding the ingredients.

"We don't need to find them!" Malfoy told me.

"Yeah we do," I said.

"We're not muggles!" Malfoy said, standing outside the tent. He nonverbally did a spell and one of the ingredients shot toward him, "You can summon them."

I can't believe no one thought of that before, "Accio! Accio! Accio!" Three of the ingredients we needed sped toward me.

Looking over at Malfoy's pile of ingredients, I saw that he's already collected almost all the ones needed for the Essence of Dittany. Was he seriously good at everything? I started summoning the ingredients as fast as I could and by the time we had collected all of them, I smugly noticed that my pile was larger than Malfoys.

Skipping inside, I sat on one of the armchairs. Malfoy sat down next to me.

"Why do you make everything a competition?" he asked.

"Because it's fun to beat you," I said, taking in his expression.

"Granger!"

"What?" I asked innocently.

Malfoy rolled his eyes, "I can't believe we have a month of this!"

"I feel the exact same way," I told him, sighing.

"Doubt it," Malfoy said smiling.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Note: Nope, don't own anything.

Just like Malfoy had predicted, we were done with the potions in a week, one day more to be exact. So Thursday was our first free day as we'd completed the homework during our first week, as well.

"Now what do we do?" Malfoy asked, stretched out on an armchair. We had just finished breakfast.

"I don't know," I said, I was finished with my books and there was seriously nothing to do, "I wish we could go back to Hogwarts as soon as we were done, don't you?"

"Not particularly," Malfoy said, staring into the fire, "I like it here, and you're good company."

Oh my god, how could he make me blush that easily? I avoided his eyes for a while. We were actually on friendly terms now, since I had the chance to get to know him better.

"Seriously," Malfoy complained.

"Oh, do you have any books?" I asked, if he did, I could read that.

"A couple," Malfoy said, waving his hand lazily, "But don't you ever want to do something other than reading?"

"Well, there isn't anything else to do," I said.

"Really?" Malfoy asked, raising an eyebrow, "I brought my broomstick."

"Oh no!" I said, eyes wide. But I remembered the last time we'd flown, it had been pretty fun, I had to admit, "Well, okay," I said, "But only if you ride it with me, deal?"

"Deal," Malfoy smiled, he summoned his broom, "Let's go outside, shall we?" I followed him outside, where there was the soothing sound of flowing water.

I timidly sat on the broom, much like how I sat last time. I felt Malfoy get on behind me and put his arms around me and on my hands. We kicked off and this time I wasn't afraid at all, it was quite exhilarating. We flew around our tent a couple times and then Malfoy steered the broom to take us in another direction, past the waterfall.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"I want to see how far our boundary is. We can't go past a ring of trees, but I want to see how much area we have."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Slughorn," Malfoy explained, "Oh, there it is, see?"

There was, indeed, a ring of trees and from up here, I could see the entire ring, right in the middle of which was our tent. Suddenly, I saw red sparks fly up from one of the trees.

"Malfoy, look over there!" I lifted a hand from the broom to point.

"What is that?" Malfoy asked, "Did Slughorn know we'd finish quickly?" We sped toward the red sparks, going faster than I was comfortable with, though I didn't complain. We stopped near the base of the tree.

"Where did that come from?" I asked.

"I don't know, but stay behind me," Malfoy said, drawing out his wand.

"No way," I drew out my wand and stood beside him.

"Well, well, well, Draco," a voice came from in front of us. Lucius Malfoy pulled off his invisibility cloak, "Looks like you're fond of the Mudblood, traitor. And traitors like yourself must die! But first, I'll dispose of the Mudblood. Crucio!"

I instinctively dodged it, sending a nonverbal hex at him. I noticed that Malfoy also shot a spell at him, though it was one I didn't recognize.

"Don't you dare use the Lord's teachings against him!" the older Malfoy spat, sending a killing curse at me.

Scared out of my wits, I ran left, the curse missing me.

"Hermione, apparate somewhere, anywhere!" Malfoy yelled at me.

"What about you, then," I asked him, bringing up my shield just in time to stop a nasty hex.

"I have to do this," Malfoy said, "It's complicated and I swear I'll explain later, if you go." But what if he couldn't, later.

"I'm staying with you," I said, "two wands are better than one."

"Not if one of them will get killed," Malfoy said, quietly. To my surprise, he aimed a killing curse at the older Malfoy.

"Malfoy, you can't kill your father!" I said.

"Crucio!" Lucius Malfoy said, again, aiming at me and this time, I couldn't dodge it.

"No!" the younger Malfoy yelled, jumping in front of me. To my horror, Malfoy caught the curse full on.

I turned to the older Malfoy, who was grinning maliciously. I tried to send the full body bind at him, but missed.

"Draco will die!" Lucius Malfoy said. With that, he lifted the curse and threw a knife at Malfoy. Once he saw that it was going to hit its mark, I saw him run through the trees and disapparate, missing the curse I sent at him.

"Malfoy? Malfoy? Oh god!" I knelt down next to him.

"Hermione? Don't disapparate for help."

"What? Why?" I asked, looking at his bloodied form, "I'm sorry, Malfoy, but I'm going to."

"I'll be fine."

"What the hell, Malfoy?" I said, looking down at him, "You need a doctor. You were hit by the Cruciatus and that cut your chest!"

"It only grazed me, Granger," Malfoy said, starting to sound annoyed, "Quit overreacting."

"I'm not," I said, tears threatening to fall from my eyes.

"Hermione," Malfoy tried to sit up, "Please don't disapparate."

Something in his voice made me listen to him, "Okay, but how are going to get back to the tent?"

Eventually, I was able to help him onto the broom. "Hold on to me, okay?" I asked Malfoy, who was sitting behind me.

"Okay," Malfoy said. I kicked off. At first, it was hard to get used to the broom and I did some unnecessary dives. I still hadn't got the complete hang of it when I spotted our tent. The only thought in my mind was to help Malfoy get better, again. My landing, though far from a gentle stop, was fair.

"Malfoy, come on, just follow me," I said.

"I'm fine, Granger, no need to fuss. I can walk just fine."

"No you can't," I said, tugging on his arm gently to take him to his room, "Now take off your shirt."

"No way, Granger, I'm fine," Malfoy sighed.

"Malfoy! I'm pretty good at healing, let me see." Malfoy gave up and took off his blood-soaked shirt. I gasped. The knife had not just "grazed" him at all. It had cut him, and quite deeply, too. His entire chest and arms were bruised. "How did that happen?" I asked him, gesturing at all the wounds.

"I don't know," Malfoy said, way too calmly, in my opinion.

"And you're _fine_?" I asked angrily, "Okay, lie down, why don't you?" I went to my room and brought out my emergency kit. I took out a couple potions and went back to Malfoy's room. I started to clean out his wound, though I noticed that he tried to hide a wince every now and then.

"Okay there," I said, "Now I only need to put this paste on the cut and it should be better by tomorrow." I took the green paste from the bottle and tried to put it as gently as I could on the wound. Right when the paste touched Malfoy's skin, it turned a fiery orange. A small sound left Malfoy's mouth and his eyes were squeezed shut. "It's not supposed to turn orange!" I moaned.

"I think it's because of the potion he put on the knife," Malfoy said, eyes still closed.

"You didn't tell me that!" I said, "Well, this isn't going to work."

"No, it isn't," Malfoy agreed, "But it'll go away with time, it's happened before."

"What?" I asked, surprised, "I've never even heard of this before."

"Well, it's dark magic," Malfoy said, sitting up. He went to his suitcase and pulled out another shirt.

"Wait, I still have to do something for the bruises," I said. I took out a vial of an amber potion with an oily consistency and I put it on his bruises. "How could he do this to his own son?" I asked rhetorically.

Malfoy answered anyway, leaning his head back to that he faced the top of the tent, "He doesn't think of me as his son," he paused, "And I don't think of him as my father."

When I was done, Malfoy tugged on his shirt and followed me to the kitchen. It was nearly dinner time and we hadn't even had lunch.

I pulled out a plate of steaming food from the little door in the kitchen. Other than the door, the kitchen seemed very much like my parent's one back at their house. I closed it, opened it again, and there was another fresh meal.

I took both of them to the table, not wanting Malfoy to strain his arms. We both sat down and I started with the bowl of soup. It wasn't until I was half way done that I saw that Malfoy was struggling with the soup. "Here," I took the spoon from his hand and brought it to his mouth.

"Granger," Malfoy said, looking taken aback, "I can eat by myself."

"No, you can't," I said, wondering how someone could be so stubborn.

"Granger!" Malfoy said, snatching the spoon from me, "I'm perfectly capable."

I returned to my soup noticing Malfoy's attempts at eating despite what had happened to him. "Shut up and eat," I said, taking the spoon from his hand and helping him. I helped him finish the rest of the meal in a similar way.

When I was done as well, I went to bed, rereading a storybook I had bought from Diagon Alley a couple years ago.

The next couple days went in a similar manner. We didn't do much other than stay in our tent. We did play a couple games of Wizard's Chess in which I didn't win as often as I'd liked, but that was it.

As Monday rolled around once more, I had to check how Malfoy was healing so that afternoon, I knocked at Malfoy's door.

"Come in!" Malfoy called.

"I need to check how your injuries are doing," I said, stepping inside.

"Oh, okay then," Malfoy said, looking up from his book, "They're a lot better, you know." He pulled off his shirt and I noticed that it was a lot better. In fact, Malfoy's chest was well toned and muscular. I hadn't noticed it before with all the blood and bruises, but he was extremely attractive. I heard him clear his throat so I quickly looked away, blushing. When I looked back at his face, I saw him smirking.

"Um, well, it's definitely healing well," I said, "Now all I have to do is put this potion on again and then you'll be as good as new." I unscrewed the lid and took out the oily on my palm. I mentally groaned, this was going to extremely awkward especially now that Malfoy wasn't closing his eyes and was instead staring right at me. Not meeting his gaze, I spread the potion on the places where there were faded bruises. When I was completely done, I screwed on the lid and finally looked at his face again.

"Thanks, Hermione."

I was taken aback, but I nodded all the same, "You're welcome." I stood there for a while, but then turned to go. I heard a muffled chuckle from Malfoy, "What?"

"You get embarrassed so easily." My cheeks burned and Malfoy gave me an infuriating smirk, "Not that it isn't cute."

I was used to Malfoy's teasing remarks by now, but they always caught me off guard. Before Malfoy could do anything else, I turned on my heel and went to the living room where I sat on my usual one of the two chairs until it was time for dinner.

I went to the kitchen and took out two meals before knocking at Malfoy's door. "What? Do you want me to take my shirt off again?"

"No, idiot! It's time for dinner," my cheeks undoubtedly pink, I went and sat down at the table.

The day that followed seemed cheerful. The birds chirped merrily and when I woke up, the sun was already out. I went to the kitchen for breakfast after washing up and changing.

"Well you're finally up," Malfoy called from the living room. I didn't know how to respond to that. "If you're up to it, I found out that there's this nice little trail around here. Let's go after lunch."

"Sure," I said.

Later that day, we were both walking together through the bright woods. "Well we have to do something other than sitting around, don't you think?"

"Yeah," I agreed, "Where do you think this trail leads?"

"I don't know, but I guess we'll find out," Malfoy said. The cool January wind ruffled his white blond hair so that they covered half of his eyes.

We reached a steep rise in the trail after a couple minutes. I followed Malfoy up the hill, getting tired. When we were near the top, I saw him offer his hand, I took it, noticing how much larger it was than mine. He held my hand gently and helped me up the little bit of hill until we reached the top.

"Wow!" I said, looking around. I could see our tent in the distance, and we were on top of the waterfall, "This is beautiful, isn't it?"

Malfoy nodded and the two of us stood there, as though we were the only two humans in the world. A moment after the initial shock died down, I noticed that we were still holding hands I pretended not to notice because I actually enjoyed Malfoy's touch.

"Remember the Yule Ball?" Malfoy asked me, looking sideways at my face.

"Yeah," I said, confused as to why he'd asked.

"Ever since, I've always wanted to ask you. May I have this dance?"

I blushed slightly, "Okay."

He bowed, extending his hand. I took it, wanting to live in the moment. He led me gracefully on top of the hill. I felt like I was floating in his arms, he really was an amazing dancer. He suddenly pulled me close, our bodies barely touching.

"I really do enjoy dancing with you, Hermione," Malfoy murmured.

"So do I," I whispered into his chest before he twirled me.

The cool breeze lifted Malfoy's hair gently so that it fell quite messily, though not in an unattractive way. He pulled me close a second time and this time, my breath caught and I was close enough to pick out Malfoy's scent.

I was speechless the entire time, following Malfoy's confident strides. It was only after it was starting to become dark that we stopped, lying down on the grassy top near the river that flowed down the waterfall. I didn't say anything for a long time, replaying the dance in my head. It was a moment I was sure I would never want to forget.

"You're pretty nice, Hermione," Malfoy said softly next to me. He put his hand on mine giving me a feeling of security I had never felt with anyone else.

I felt something else, also, that I hadn't ever left before, I turned to look at Malfoy, he could be arrogant sometimes, but he really was a sweet person, "You too, Draco."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Note: I don't own anything, need I say it again? Thanks to RandomReviewer for your kind review. Enjoy~

"Draco?" Malfoy asked me, propping himself up on his elbows.

"What?" I asked.

"You've never called me that before."

"Oh, yeah, I guess I haven't," I said, looking up at the twinkling stars.

"We should go back," Malfoy advised, "It's getting late."

"Okay," I agreed standing up. And when we finally reached our tent that night, I was so tired that I fell into my bed, already asleep.

I woke up late on Wednesday, checking my clock, it was already 9:30. I was too tired to start the day, so I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Remembering yesterday, I smiled, it was one of the rare friendly moments I'd had with Malfoy. I woke up and got ready, finally leaving my room.

I saw Malfoy, immediately, he was sitting, quite grandly, on his armchair. He bent over some paper on which he was writing with his quill.

"What're you doing?" I asked.

"I don't think I should tell you," Malfoy said, his voice almost remorseful.

"Why?" I asked, genuinely curious. I saw Malfoy debating with himself on whether or not to tell me. "I can handle it, I am a Gryffindor after all."

"I'm worried because of my father, I suppose," Malfoy said, "I know he didn't think the knife would kill me. But I do think he wants me, how do I say this, dead."

"Don't worry, we're going back to Hogwarts soon," I said, slightly shaken, "Two weeks."

"You don't know my father, he is extremely smart. I know he'll find some way to get to me and I think I know how," he saw the look on my face, "Not you, definitely, though that would bring me to him. You're too good for him, but there's someone."

I stood there, taking this in, when it finally registered in me, "Who?"

Malfoy looked indecisive for a couple of moments, he ran a hand through his hair, messing it up.

"You can tell me," I said.

Malfoy stood up, making his decision, "My mum."

I gasped, "But why? He wouldn't do that to his _wife_, would he?"

"Granger, there's a lot you don't know about my father."

I gulped, "So, what are we going to do?"

"We?" Malfoy looking up from his paper and straight into my eyes.

"Of course," I said, "How could I not help you?"

Malfoy looked at me, the surprise evident in his cool, grey eyes, "I really don't think you should get involved."

"Why?" I demanded, "I'm just as good as you."

Malfoy laughed, "I'm not so sure."

"You're right," I said readily, "I _am_ better." Malfoy gaped at me, I giggled, "But in all seriousness, why does he want you killed?"

"Long story," Malfoy said, sighing, closing his eyes.

"I can listen," I said, softly.

I saw Malfoy tense up, "I can't say, but she's still safe for another two and a half months. She's in Azkaban."

"What?" I exclaimed, "Why?" I had given my grudging respect to her last year when she had saved Harry.

"She was framed, by me," Malfoy said, shaking his head.

"You?" I asked, surprised.

"Well there aren't dementors there anymore and it was the safest place. I had my suspicions for a while now."

"Oh," I said in a quiet voice.

"Well no need to worry," Malfoy said hastily, "I've got a plan figured out and everything. Let's just enjoy our little trip, shall we?"

"Alright," I said, though my thoughts were still on Narcissa.

"Forget about what I said," Malfoy said, leaning his face close to mine, "Promise?"

I gulped, then nodded.

"Okay then," Malfoy got up, "How about some breakfast?"

After a pleasant breakfast, I went over to my room, to sort out a few of my spell books. I was sitting at my bed, leafing through a book I hadn't read in a while when I heard a thump outside my door.

"Bloody boundaries!" I heard Malfoy curse.

I smiled, and got up to go outside. "Oh hello, Malfoy," I said, watching him move his fingers over a spot on his head.

"Here," he unceremoniously threw a small owl at me who I immediately noticed as Pigwideon.

"Oh thanks!" I said, excited at the sight of a thick letter tied to its leg. I went over to the living room, untied it from Pig, and unrolled the parchment, recognizing Harry's untidy cursive.

_Dear Hermione,_

_How are you doing with your potions? I suppose you're already done. I hope Malfoy hasn't been too much of a bother. Ron just blew up our Befuddlement Draught again. How are you supposed to measure a perfect amount of scurvy grass anyway? By the way, I think I'm making some progress with the whole Ron situation. I bet he'll be fine once we return to Hogwarts. I can't wait until this is over and I bet you can't either. _

_Love,_

_Harry_

I thought about what Harry had said, and I was surprised that a small part of me didn't want this trip to be over. I saw Malfoy glancing at me from where he was standing near the fire. I ignored my confusing thoughts and pushed them to the back of my mind.

"So what've you got there?" Malfoy asked me.

"A letter," I said cheekily.

Malfoy rolled his eyes. We had an average sort of day, after dinner, I went to my room so that I could get ready to bed and write back to Harry.

Finally, I was able to write back to Harry.

_Dear Harry,_

_I miss you and I'm glad that Ron's getting better. And really, Harry, you're supposed to mash the scurvy grass before you measure it. _

I paused, I didn't really know what else to write. I did want to tell Harry that Malfoy wasn't _as_ bad as we thought but then decided not to. Finishing up the short letter, I tied it on Pig's leg and carried him outside.

I watched the tiny owl disappear into the night sky. I was about to go in when I noticed a pair of grey eyes watching me from beside the tent.

"Malfoy?"

"Granger."

"What are you doing out here?"

"Nothing," Malfoy said nonchalantly.

"Well come in, why don't you," I said.

"You go," Malfoy said.

I crossed my arms, "Not until you tell me what you were doing out here."

"Smelling the daisies, Granger," Malfoy said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes, "I'm serious."

"So am I." I stood there for a couple minutes, and though I was beginning to become sleepy, I didn't leave, "If you're so sleepy go in."

"No," I said stubbornly, though each time I blinked, it took longer for me to open my eyes again.

"Fine!" Malfoy said, exasperated, "I'm guarding our tent from my father, okay?"

All sleep vanished from my eyes, "You think he'll come back?"

"It's likely, he's not exactly patient and two and a half months is a while. But don't worry, I'm guarding the tent."

I noticed his stubborn demeanor and decided not to challenge it for now. I went in my room and lay on the bed, my last thoughts before sleeping being about a certain stupid Slytherin.

The next morning, I saw Malfoy sitting in his normal position by the fire. He didn't look tired, but I decided to confront him about it anyway.

"Malfoy, you don't have to guard the tent."

"Yes, I do," Malfoy said simply.

"Why?"

"Because," Malfoy said, not giving any further explanation. I just stood there, waiting for him to continue. Malfoy sighed heavily and added, "I don't want you to get hurt."

I didn't really know what to say to that remark. "But, I won't get hurt." I said, lamely.

Malfoy frowned, "Do you think that simple boundary on your door can keep out my father? Even I can break through it if I wanted to. Don't underestimate my father."

"But I can protect myself."

"Not when you're asleep," Malfoy said with an air of finality. Then he stood to his full height and turned to walk off.

"Wait," I said, "It's okay, I won't talk about it anymore but let me just ask you, how much have you been sleeping lately?"

"Enough," Malfoy said, halfheartedly, "What do we do now, though?"

"I don't know," I admitted, "Life here can be quite dull, don't you think?"

"Not really," Malfoy said, sitting back down on his seat, "I like being here with you."

I gaped at him for a half a second, "But really."

"Really."

"Well what do you usually do anyway?" I asked him.

"Practice spells, I suppose," Malfoy said.

"How advanced are you?" I asked, a trifle curious, "You said you could break a Hogwarts boundary."

"Not a Hogwarts one, but the one on your room, yeah."

"Can you show me?" I asked excitedly.

"Don't you think that's a bad idea, me being able to go in your room whenever I please?"

"But you won't."

Malfoy smirked. "Maybe sometimes I can't help myself." I threw a chair cushion at him though to my dismay, he just laughed, "Was that supposed to hurt, Granger?"

"No," I said, not sure if that was the right answer.

Malfoy laughed, "Well if you think of something, um, appropriate, you can let me know."

"I hate you, Malfoy!" I groaned.

"There's a fine line between love and hate!"

I mentally berated myself for blushing and not being able to come up with a witty response, so I glared at Malfoy, wishing I could pull that triumphant smile off his face.

"Anyway," I said, ignoring Malfoy's satisfied smile, "Let's put the potions in their vials, we only have thirteen days left before going back."

"Okay," Malfoy agreed, still smiling.

I went over to the kitchen and picked up the box-like thing in which we stored our potions so they didn't spoil as they were exposed to so much oxygen before being put in vials. I noticed Malfoy standing next to me, offering his help.

I gave him the cauldrons that contained the Draught of Peace and the Vitamix and I held the other two, Essence of Dittany and Amortentia. Putting the four cauldrons on the coffee table, Malfoy summoned four vials and I held the vial steady as Malfoy poured in the potion.

It wasn't until we were almost, done and pouring in our last potion, Amortentia, that I saw Malfoy's eyes widen in mild surprise.

"What?" I asked, as I corked the vial.

"A new smell," Malfoy explained, "You."

"Quit teasing," I told him, exasperated.

Friday was a sweltering, hot day. A cloudless sky greeted me as I went outside the tent. I didn't know what to do with myself. After a quick breakfast, I had found a note from Malfoy saying he'd gone outside for a ride on his broomstick.

The pool at the bottom of the waterfall was invitingly cool when I dipped in my finger so in half a second, I had decided to go for a swim. I didn't have a bathing suit, however, so figuring that I was alone anyway, I put my clothes near a bush and sank in the refreshing water in my underwear.

I wasn't quite sure how long I was there, but when I looked up, I saw the outline of Malfoy against a tree.

"Malfoy!" I exclaimed, "How long were you there?"

"Not much more than a second, I just came back," Malfoy said, noticing me. So he hadn't even seen me until now? Darn, "Um, Granger, are you wearing anything?"

"Shut up, Malfoy!" I yelled, my cheeks pink, "Look away will you?"

"And if I don't?" he asked, taking a step closer to the pool.

"I'll curse you!" I screamed, "Go away!"

"Fine, fine, touchy," Malfoy said, laughing.

Fuming, I dried myself with a spell and pulled on my shorts and shirt on in enviable speed.

"Are you done?" Malfoy asked.

"No," I said, just to get back at him.

Malfoy turned around anyway, "Liar."

I blushed, "But really, that wasn't fair."

Malfoy frowned, "Well you were teasing me, you know. What if I did the same thing to you?"

"Then, I'd have to use _extreme_ self-control, wouldn't I?" I said sarcastically, flouncing away into the tent.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Note: I own nothing. Sorry for the long wait you guys! I'll update more frequently again, though!

Malfoy followed behind me, "Really, Granger, sometimes I think you've got too much wit to be in Gryffindor."

I frown, "Was that a compliment?"

Malfoy smirked, "Maybe."

I groan, couldn't he ever give a straight answer? Malfoy must have noticed my confusion because he gave me a smug smile, "Sod off, Malfoy."

"You know you don't want that," Malfoy said.

"_I_ know that I do!" I replied. Malfoy stifled an infuriating chuckle, "Idiot."

"That's not true, is it?" Malfoy asked, lazily stretching out on the armchair and smiling up at me.

I patted his head, condescendingly, "You wish."

Malfoy looked at me blankly and I, to my surprise, couldn't help but giggle at his expression, "What was that for?"

"For being too full of yourself," I answered.

Malfoy rolled his eyes, "Well what about lunch?"

"Right," I said, remembering, "I'll get the food out, then, but it's such a hot day. Oh! Why don't go on a picnic?"

"You always have the strangest ides," Malfoy murmurs.

"Well, it's the perfect day for a picnic," I retort. I go to the small door in the kitchen that gives us food from Hogwarts and punch in food you'd normally bring on a picnic, "Okay, let's go!"

Malfoy follows me outside, "But where are we going?" I hadn't really thought of that. Malfoy notices my look, "Okay, I'll take you then." He summons his broomstick and even though I had ridden on it before, it makes me the slightest bit nervous, "Hold on." Malfoy says, sitting in the front. I tie the box with food on it on the broom and hold my hands around Malfoy's middle.

When we finally did kick off, I close my eyes and grab onto Malfoy a bit tighter than necessary, holding my forehead against his back. When I finally feel solid ground under my legs, I open my eyes and hop off. I notice that we're on top of the waterfall and it brings back embarrassing memories.

"Well I can see you enjoyed the ride," Malfoy said, tilting his head, "You sure did hold on tightly."

I blush slightly, "Sorry!"

"Don't worry about it," Malfoy consoles, "So what is this? Our first date?"

"What?!" I ask, horrified.

"Just kidding, just kidding!" Malfoy laughs, "Don't you get worked up easily?"

"Only when I'm with you!" I retort, digging into the basket of food. I magic the picnic blanket on the ground and we both sit down, me removing the contents of the box.

"So does that make me special?" Malfoy asks.

"Yes," I say solemnly, "You're the biggest idiot I've ever had the displeasure of meeting."

Malfoy laughs. I noticed that when he didn't have a smirk, sneer, or frown on his face, he was actually quite handsome. I'd only seen that part of him once before, in the hospital wing.

Lunch was an interesting affair. We didn't have much to talk about, I started nibbling on a sandwich and watched Malfoy eating from the corner of my eye. Much unlike Ron, the food went carefully from the paper plate to his mouth. _Why was I comparing Draco Malfoy to Ron?_

"Why are you staring at me?" Malfoy asked me, bluntly.

I quickly averted my gaze, "I wasn't," I deny.

When I look back at him, he has his infuriating smirk. It made me want to hex him to Hogwarts, I tell him so.

"Some other people can't get enough of me either, but at least they try to be subtle," he replies.

"I, what? No way!" I say angrily.

Malfoy chuckles, what I would give to hit him again like I did in third year, "But it's okay because I like you how you are now."

"What the heck, Malfoy?" I explode, "One moment you're the world's biggest idiot and the next you're so—"

"So what?" he asks, popping a grape into his mouth, glancing sideways at me.

"Nothing!" I said, blushing. I actually wasn't sure, myself, what I was going to say. I reminded myself that this was _Draco Malfoy_. But a part of me, a very small part, stood up for him. He wasn't all that bad when you got to know him. _Got to know him? I know nothing about him, at all._

"Why are you staring off like that?" Malfoy asked me, bringing me back to reality.

"N-no reason," I stammer.

"Are you not telling me something?" Malfoy asks, lightly.

"Well you don't tell me everything about yourself, either," I retort, my tone the slightest bit angry.

"Sorry," Malfoy says, sincerely, looking at his hands, "But, there are just some things I can't say."

"Not even to your friend?" I asked.

"Friend?" Malfoy wondered, staring straight into my eyes.

It just slipped out of my mouth, but now that I'd said it, it seemed wrong. The Gryffindor Golden Girl and the Prince of Slytherin? Friends? I look away, watching the tops of the trees sway with a slight breeze.

"Well, are we?" Malfoy presses.

I don't really know how to answer, "Do you think we should?"

"I don't see why not," Malfoy frowns. So he was offended by my reply. I internally groan. "Well, whatever," Malfoy continues, a look of indifference on his face, "It doesn't really matter, does it?"

"No, it does," I said, trying to make up for what I had said, "I want to be your friend."

"Really?" Malfoy asks, "With me?"

I laugh, "Who else, genius?" Malfoy scowls and I laugh again.

He gave me a look, "Silly Hermione." He reaches across the picnic blanket and pats me on the head.

I don't know why, but I smile despite myself, "What was that for, Malfoy?"

"Earlier," Malfoy says, smiling back sideways at me.

"Shove off, Malfoy!"

"Or what?"

"I don't know."

"Is that the first time you haven't known the answer?"

"No!"

The rest of lunch was filled with arguments that drove me berserk. Stupid Malfoy. When we got back to the tent, I stretched out on my bed to take a nap.

"Granger!" I woke up to the sharp knock at my door.

"Malfoy?" I asked groggily.

"Yes, it's Malfoy," he replied, irritated. Then his voice softened, "Were you asleep?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," Malfoy said, his tone regrettable. I smiled because I knew it was his attempt at an apology.

"It's okay," I swing the door open and walk into Malfoy, falling on top of him. "Oh no!" I blush.

"Granger!" Malfoy said, his grey eyes wide in surprise.

"Sorry!" I said, my blush deepening when I realized that our faces were barely apart, just like last time in the dungeons. Malfoy sits up so I'm his lap. "Sorry!" I say again, struggling to get up.

"Granger, stop apologizing," Malfoy says, hugging me close to his chest, "I don't mind and it's not your fault."

"But it's the second time!" I whisper. When I recover from the shock, I struggle out of his arms, "Malfoy, what the heck?" He looks mildly surprised, then smirks. I roll my eyes, "What were you calling me for, anyway?"

"Dinner."

"Oh," I go over to the kitchen and see the two places he'd set up, "Thanks." We don't talk much over dinner and I figure that it must be because Malfoy was angry, "I'm really sorry."

"Granger, stop it," Malfoy says, "Stop apologizing for things out of your control."

I nod, "I guess it's because if I don't, people hold a grudge against me. Like Ron, especially."

Malfoy swears, "I really hate that Weasel."

I must have forgotten that I was with someone else because I had never admitted that to anyone else before.

I notice that his hands are balled up into fists, "How could he?"

"It's okay," I console, reaching over to uncurl his fingers. Malfoy moves his hands from my reach. "He's still my best friend!" I say fiercely, "So if you do anything to him, you'll have to answer to me!"

Malfoy laughs, sadly, "If only he could get it through his thick head how lucky he was." I heard the sincerity in his words, but that just made me more confused.

"What?" I ask, I had heard the sincerity in his words, but that had just made me more confused.

"Ah, nothing," Malfoy says, returning to his food.

When I got back to my room and found Pigwideon hopping around on my bed. I scooped up the little owl and found two letters on his leg. I undid it and unfolded the first parchment on the bed.

_Hermione,_

_I hope that bloody ferret isn't bothering you too much. Don't get fooled if he acts chummy, remember he's a Death Eater and his entire family is dark. I hope you have reconsidered going out with me, I want you as my girlfriend. _

_Ron_

I surprised myself at that point because I wasn't sad, I was angry. Ron knew nothing about Malfoy and he dared insult him? And he had nerve asking me out again after he had broken up with me? And he didn't even apologize. Angry tears in my eyes, I tore the letter cleanly in two and threw it crumpled on the ground.

I looked over to the second letter. I was curious about what it contained but I didn't want to get upset again. Tentatively, I opened it and was relieved to find that it was written in Harry's writing.

_Dear Hermione,_

_Just got your letter. Ron's really worked up, we haven't done any of the homework yet. I apologize for what might be his letter, he didn't let me look at it. Anyway, I hope you're alright. Knowing you, you must have finished the homework during the first day. I miss you and remember to enjoy yourself. This is a trip, after all and even though Malfoy might not be the one you want to spend it with, don't let him drag you down. By the way, thanks for the tip about the scurvy grass. We're almost done now._

_Love,_

_Harry_

Even Harry's cheerful letter did nothing to brighten my mood. I stared at the ground for a couple moments before snapping out of my reverie. I glanced over at the torn letter at my feet. Ron was going to pay for this!

"Hermione!" Malfoy's voice sounded, "Let's do something, shall we? Being cooped up in a tent is so boring." I opened my door, and saw Malfoy looking down at me, "Have you been crying?"

I gasped, and quickly wiped at my eyes, "N-No!"

His eyes were soft, "You can tell me."

I gestured at the pieces of parchment that used to be Ron's letter, still lying on the floor.

"Can, I?" Malfoy asks, glancing at the paper, I shake my head, I don't want him to worry about something silly like that.

"It's nothing," I say, stepping out and closing my door, "So what do you want to do?"

"It is something," Malfoy insists, "Don't lie."

I frown, "Well, it was kind of upsetting, I suppose, but really, it's okay."

"Really, Hermione, you can trust me."

"Fine."

It kind of bothered me how easy it was for Malfoy to come in my room. With one, simple wave of his wand, he lifted the barrier and walked in.

"The wards aren't even close to how protected Hogwarts is," Malfoy explained. He bent down to pick up the letter and his eyes skimmed the two pieces which he held side by side. I could see his hands were clenched by the time he had read the letter, but then he looked over at me and smiled, "Why don't you say no?"

"But, I can't just, you know," my voice trailed off.

"Merlin, Hermione!" Malfoy said, "You're letting this bother you? I get that he's your friend and all but there's a limit to how much you should let someone hurt you."

I nodded, his words had made me feel better, "So what did you want to do?" I asked him more cheerfully.

"Blast that Weasel to shreds, for one," Malfoy said thoughtfully, after seeing my expression, he added, "But really, I wasn't even sure. I just wanted to do something with you."

I roll my eyes and Malfoy leans over to wipe a lone tear on my cheek. I blush when I notice how close we are, "Malfoy!" I say.

"Well, come on then," Malfoy says, grabbing my hand and steering me toward the living room, "We've only got a little over a week left here."

I nod and he summons his broomstick, "Where are we going?"

"For a ride," Malfoy says. We go outside, it's still light out, though the sun was beginning to set, "Hold on."

I grabbed Malfoy around the waist, we were going pretty quickly. The night was kind of cold so I press my head against Malfoy's back noticing quickly how awkward that was and leaning away from him. Not that I didn't like it.

"Hermione! If you lean back like that, the broom won't be balanced properly!"

"Sorry," I say, leaning forward again, but not too close.

Malfoy dives slightly so his feet skim the tops of the ancient trees, "But you always can lean into me if you want." He adds. I can feel that smirk on his lips.

"I hate you, Malfoy!" I reply.

"I know you don't," Malfoy says infuriatingly, as our broomstick lands in the middle of a little clearing in the forest.

He leans his Firebolt on a tree and sits down on the ground, staring at the numerous stars.

I sit down next to him, "I never knew you stargazed like a centaur, Malfoy." I said, to bother him.

"I don't usually," Malfoy says, his blonde hair white by the moon, which had risen. To my annoyance, he didn't seem the least bothered being compared to a centaur. Had he really changed? I wasn't sure. Contemplating such thoughts, I shivered slightly by the night air. Malfoy immediately took off his jacket and draped it around my shoulders.

I felt confused by the gesture. Frankly, I didn't think Malfoy was capable of doing something so kind, "Thanks," I said, putting my arms though the sleeves, "But aren't you cold?" He was only wearing a light blue V-necked shirt.

"Not, if you're warm, Hermione," he said, softly.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"Of course," he says. Soon we go back to the tent on the broomstick together.

When we get back, I go to my room and fall asleep. It wasn't until the next morning that I realized I was wearing Malfoy's coat all night.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Note: I own nothing. Thanks to my readers who reviewed, your sweet words really make my day! So here's a quick chapter update for you guys. :)

The golden rays of sunlight fell onto my bed and I yawned, stretching my arms, still covered by Malfoy's black coat. I gasped, I didn't realize that I was still wearing it. I was still dressed from yesterday so I went to the bathroom to freshen up.

When I was done, I grabbed Malfoy's coat and went to his room.

"Come in, Granger," Malfoy called after I knocked.

I went inside and saw him reading a book on his bed, "Here," I said, holding up his coat, "Thanks for letting me use it yesterday."

"No problem," Malfoy said, taking it from me, "Did you, did you sleep in it?"

I blushed and noticed how it was slightly crumpled, "I was tired!"

Malfoy laughed, "I don't mind. You know, I didn't think you were the kind of girl who'd get embarrassed to easily."

"Malfoy! I hate you!" I exclaimed.

He smirked, then leaned into me, "Yup, my coat smells like you now."

"Malfoy!" I screamed, pushing him away, "If you don't like it, don't lend me your coat anymore!"

"Who said I didn't like it?" Malfoy said.

I averted my eyes from his cool, grey gaze. My eyes fell on the book he was reading. It was a deep purple and looked practically new, "What's that?"

"A book," Malfoy said.

I rolled my eyes, "I'm not that stupid. What's it about?"

"Spells and stuff," Malfoy said, "Merlin, Granger, how about some privacy? If you're going to violate mine, I'll do the same to you."

"It's just that I haven't read anything new in ages," I said, trying to ignore Malfoy's last comment.

"Oh, well I suppose I have some books, none of which will interest you, though."

"When was the last time I didn't like a book?"

"Fine. Maybe I'll lend you something later."

I nodded and then went out to get some breakfast. I opened the little door connected to the Hogwarts kitchens and pulled out two trays of breakfast which I set on the table.

The day was pretty uneventful until later that day, a bit after lunch. I was sitting at the desk in my room writing a letter back to Harry, only Harry, when I heard a knock at my door. Before I could say anything, Malfoy strolled in and handed me a book.

"Malfoy!" I spluttered, "You can't just barge into my room!"

"I wasn't 'barging,'" Malfoy said, "I was here to lend you a book."

"Same difference," I said, waving my hand, I glanced down at the book, it was a spell book. I opened it up randomly and the spells I saw were extremely complicated. I pretended that I was used to spells like these and closed it, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Malfoy turned to leave and closed the door behind him, "But if you want something more challenging than that spell book, let me know."

I was shocked, how advanced could a person be? I went through the book and I actually enjoyed it. It was much better than the simple books available in the Hogwarts library.

I kept reading until dinner when Malfoy's voice broke my concentration on a new spell, "Hermione, aren't you going to have dinner?"

"Right," I said, getting up, "I must have forgotten. Well actually, I think I'd rather not, I really want to read this."

"You can't just skip meals because you want to read," Malfoy said, opening the door to my room.

"Malfoy, knock!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah, but you still can't skip dinner."

"I've done it lots of times," I said, matter-of-factly.

"Well that's going to stop now," Malfoy said, "Do you want me to levitate you to the table or are you coming?"

"Fine," I said, sighing at getting up. Part of me wanted to keep reading but the other part was glad that Malfoy had cared enough to make me eat something. Other than my parents, and of course Mrs. Weasley, he was the only one who had said something like this.

After dinner, I went back to my room, "Granger!" Malfoy called, "Don't stay cooped up in there all day, and at least come read outside."

"Isn't someone feeling bossy today?" I complained. Either way I took the book and brought it out to the living room. Sitting on my normal chair, I read through the next spell. I saw Malfoy sitting on the other squashy chair. Prepared to surprise Malfoy with my skills, I waved my wand in the complicated pattern and muttered the incantation. It didn't work. Sneaking a glance to Malfoy, I was relieved to see him without a smirk.

"Want help?"

"No," I said through pride, though really I did.

"Really?" Malfoy asked again.

"Okay, yeah, I do," I said, after failing yet another time. I had tried this same spell before dinner and it hadn't worked either.

"Let me see you do it," Malfoy said. Slightly embarrassed at not being able to do it, I tried again to no avail.

"Well, your form is excellent, maybe you don't get the mental part."

"I do," I said, I was completely sure I'd understood.

"Well, maybe say it louder, you could just be mispronouncing it." I did so, "No, it's not that either. Granger, I think you're just too tired, you've been working too long."

"I haven't," I said, aghast, I'd only spent a couple hours, after all.

"You've got to enjoy life more," Malfoy said.

"I do enjoy life," I retorted.

"Name one thing you've done all semester that made you happy. You know, when you actually had fun. You know what fun is, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" I said defensively, "And," I hesitated, thinking, "every time I've been with you has been pretty fun."

Malfoy smiled, "Sounds like you fancy me."

"I do not!" I exclaimed, "I just didn't word that correctly."

Malfoy grinned, "Who are you kidding, you like me."

"I do not!" I said again, I crossed my arms, "Excuse me if you're so full of yourself that you can't think people talk about you with anything other than love."

"I wish I were that oblivious," Malfoy said, frowning, "But I can tell when people really hate me. It's in their tone. That's why I guess I was kind of surprised when you didn't talk to me like that even when I was the most annoying person to ever go to Hogwarts." I smiled, I really didn't know what to say, and then he continued, "Actually, never mind."

When I lay down on my bed that night, I couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit happy at what Malfoy had said earlier.

Ten days left. That was what I was thinking about while I stirred my cereal nonchalantly. I didn't really know where Malfoy was, maybe he'd already had breakfast and was in his room. I flipped through the last chapter of the book he had given me. Malfoy had been right, after taking a break, I could do the spell nicely. I had woken up early to finish it and maybe see if he had something even more advanced so then again, Malfoy might not even be awake.

I closed the book gently and went to knock at Malfoy's door, "Malfoy?" I called, "Are you awake?"

"Yeah," he said, "Why?"

"Oh, just to return this book," I let myself in.

To my horror, Malfoy was wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his middle, his damp hair sticking to his forehead.

"Malfoy!" I exclaimed, "Warn a person, will you?"

"Well you just walked in," Malfoy pointed out, "And remember when you said you wouldn't need self-control?" I blushed because my eyes kept wandering below his face.

"Here," I thrust the book in his hands, "See you!" I turned on my heel and closed the door behind me. I groaned internally when I reached the hallway, and my blush only deepened when I heard Malfoy chuckle in his room. Why did I always get roped into these terrible, terrible situations?

I went to my room and decided to mope for a while. When I finally heard Malfoy come out of his room, I immediately locked my door with some enchantments and buried my face in a pillow. _It's Draco bloody Malfoy! _I kept reminding myself. _Nothing to be embarrassed about._ _Yeah right,_ another part of me said, _like it's not embarrassing to walk in on someone like that._

I groaned again, then noticed that I still hadn't written my letter back to Harry.

_Dear Harry,_

_Yeah, I've finished all our homework. Just ten days until we're back at Hogwarts, I can hardly wait. Ron seemed like he was in a bad mood. I don't think I'll talk to him unless he apologizes, the flobberworm! It'll be nice to be back at school again, I've really been missing my classes they didn't even give us enough homework. Try to send your letters with your owl, Athena, will you? I don't quite like using Ron's things right now. Anyway, see you soon, I miss you!_

_Love, _

_Hermione_

I rolled up the letter and tied it up with some string. Pig was still sitting on his perch from two days ago, I tied the letter to his excited leg and took him outside. I saw Malfoy glance up at me from his place in front of the fire but ignored him, trying not to remember how I'd last seen him. I watched Pigwideon flapping up and down into the sky before going back in.

"Hermione," Malfoy said.

"What?"

"Why are you ignoring me?"

"I'm not, I'm talking to you right now."

I saw him roll his eyes, "But you didn't even look at me when you came here."

Was he really going to make me say it? I decided not to, "Whatever, Malfoy."

"You know that book you borrowed?" he asked, "How did you finish it so quick?"

"I don't know, I studied it, I guess," I answered.

"But that was extremely advanced magic!"

"I thought you said it was your easiest book," I told him.

Malfoy smirked, "I was kidding, Granger! Can't you tell the difference?" I sighed, what a jerk, "Don't you want to do something, we've only got so many days here."

"Well that's a good thing," I said, I really couldn't wait to go back to disliking Malfoy properly but it was hard when we were the only ones here.

"You really think so?" I could tell from his expression that he actually cared about my answer.

"No," I sighed, giving up.

He grinned, "Me too."

I sat down next to him, "Malfoy, I never knew the real you until now."

"You still don't," he added quietly, getting up and walking to his room.

I watched him go, wondering if I should say anything.

Five days left. I woke up to a dull, rainy day. Not even a second later I heard a soft knock at my door, "Hermione? Are you awake?"

"Yeah," I said, "I'll be out in a minute."

I got ready and came out, "Malfoy, where are you going?" He was wearing his coat, which brought back certain memories I was trying to repress and a dark green Slytherin scarf, "Come to think of it, why do you wear a coat?" I asked, "Why not a cloak?"

"I always thought that cloaks were really billow-y, you know?" Malfoy said, leaning against my doorframe, "Muggles make some practical stuff sometimes, what with all the work they have to do without magic."

"So you're wearing muggle clothes?"

"I suppose," Malfoy said, "Anyway, I was going to go out somewhere so you'll be alone here, okay?"

"Okay," I said, "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere in particular," Malfoy said, "Just wanted to tell you since I'm leaving kind of late today."

"So you usually go somewhere?" I ask.

"Yeah, every other day, maybe?" Malfoy said, he changed the subject, "So anyway, I'll be back in two hours."

"Okay," I said, "Bye, then."

When he left, I kind of felt lonely. I was picking at the eggs I was eating for breakfast wondering where he went every morning. I wished he'd asked me to come with him but really, that was just kind of selfish.

I heard the dull sound of thunder outside. I hoped Malfoy was okay, I saw his Firebolt leaning against his chair, so he hadn't even taken that.

I sighed and stretched, it really was just another lazy day in the tent. I brought out a book I was taking notes on and went to the living room to read. It wasn't until it was nearly lunch that I wondered where Malfoy was.

I had my lunch alone and when the ominous sounds of thunder started out once more, I decided that I should really go look for Malfoy.

I grabbed the horrible excuse for transportation and headed outside into the pouring rain. Trying to stay low to the ground, I hovered around for at least half an hour before finding Malfoy in the little clearing in which we had looked at the stars. In the rain, the ground was all muddy and in the middle of it all lay Malfoy. At first, I thought he had been hurt, but on second glace, he was fine. Exhausted, maybe, but fine. The raindrops fell on his face, his clothes all soggy.

I knelt down next to him, "Malfoy!" I prodded him in the face. After about ten more tries, he got up.

"Hermione? What are you doing here?"

"Well, you didn't come back."

"I'm fine," Malfoy got up, the back half of him was muddy. I did a quick cleaning and drying spell so he was fine again.

"Merlin, what were you doing?" I ask him.

He stood up next to me and looked down at my eyes, "Practicing."

Hoping onto the broomstick, he motioned for me to sit behind him, "Practicing what?" I asked him as we landed at our tent a couple minutes later.

"Spells, you don't want to forget them," he forced a smile.

"Right," I said, unconvinced, "Are you sure you're okay? Spells aren't supposed to wear you out."

"Maybe not the ones you do," Malfoy said.

"Back to your modest self, I see," I said.

Malfoy smirked, "Exactly."

Though during the rest of the day, it bothered me that Malfoy had said he was doing spells. I knew that spell practice made you bored, tired, but not how Malfoy had been. Had he been lying?

It wasn't until there was only three days left to this trip that I thought of it again. I couldn't sleep very well so I woke up really early. Almost right after I had awoken, I heard the creak of a door.

"Malfoy?" I whispered from inside my room.

"Hermione?" Malfoy called, "You're awake? It's four in the morning!"

I opened the door, still in my nightgown, "Same goes for you." I noticed he was wearing his coat and scarf again, "Where are you going?"

Malfoy sighed, "It's really none of your concern."

"Malfoy!"

"Granger!" he mimicked.

"Really, though," I said, "Who goes out for walks in the middle of the night?"

"I'm not going on a walk, and it's four in the morning," Malfoy clarified.

"So tell me what you're doing!"

Malfoy just smirked and turned to leave, his wand illuminated.

Infuriated, I made the sudden decision to follow him, where could he be going. I grabbed my thick cloak from where it hung on my desk chair and followed behind him. Using a simple camouflaging charm, I soon caught sight of him walking swiftly ahead of me.

As we went deeper into the forest, I felt kind of guilty. Malfoy hadn't wanted me to know what he was doing. But really, what could be that important, right?

We ended up in that same clearing, Malfoy glanced around and for a moment I thought he had seen me, then I realized I was under my camouflage spell. Malfoy then looked up at the sky, the thousands of stars twinkling in the darkness.

Suddenly, he brought out his wand and did a nonverbal spell, purple rays of energy circled him, glowing blue for just a second before vanishing in a soft hiss of smoke. I hadn't seen magic like that. Immediately, I felt like I was intruding in something private and turned to leave. Just when I turned to leave I heard Malfoy utter one word, one spell, "_Eximomalus."_


End file.
